Vice President JD Vance Has First Meeting With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Vice President JD Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Germany on Friday.

During a lunch with Zelensky and other European leaders, JD Vance said, “We want the war to come to a close; we want the killing to stop.”

When asked about his meeting with Zelesnky, Vance shared, “We had a number of fruitful conversations and a number of things to follow up and work on.”

Watch here:

'We want the war to come to a close, we want the killing to stop'
— JD Vance in first meeting with Zelensky pic.twitter.com/vQCFSu2hXU

— Bruce Snyder (@realBruceSnyder) February 14, 2025

Per CNN:

US Vice President JD Vance, at a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said he wants to “preserve the optionality” for those working to negotiate an end to the war, and said the goal is for a “durable, lasting peace.”

“We had a number of fruitful conversations and a number of things to follow up and work on,” Vance told reporters sitting directly across from Zelensky in Germany.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Fundamentally, the goal is as President (Donald) Trump outlined it: We want the war to come to a close. We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” he said.

Asked how this will move forward if Ukraine is not ready to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the table, Vance was reluctant to speak to the parameters of negotiations.

“It’s important for us to get together and start to have the conversations that are going to be necessary to bring this thing to a close. That’s all I’m going to say for now, because I want to preserve the optionality here for the negotiators and our respective teams to bring this thing to a responsible close,” Vance said.

Vice President JD Vance meets with Zelensky in Munich. pic.twitter.com/S8C58y6a6D

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) February 14, 2025

Per PBS:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday during a meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance that his country wants “security guarantees” before any talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war.

Shortly before sitting down with Vance at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy said he will only agree to meet in-person with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after a common plan is negotiated with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump upended years of steadfast U.S. support for Ukraine this week following a phone call with Putin, when he said the two leaders would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal. Trump later seemed to accept Zelenskyy’s demand that he, too, have a seat at the table.