JD Vance says Putin-Zelenskyy meeting before scheduled Trump meeting would not be 'productive'
US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that any negotiated deal between Russia and Ukraine would not "make anybody super happy," as the Trump administration works to arrange a trilateral meeting between the leaders.
"Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it," Vance told Fox News.
He said the Trump administration is seeking "some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops."
Vance said a diplomatic obstacle has been overcome, with President Donald Trump securing Russian President Vladimir Putin's agreement to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelenskyy," Vance said. "And the president has now got that to change."
The administration is now working on scheduling for the three leaders to meet, said Vance, as Trump and Putin are set to discuss the war during a meeting Friday in the US state of Alaska.
Asked whether Putin should meet Zelenskyy before he meets Trump, Vance said he did not think it would be "productive."
"I think fundamentally the president of the United States has to be the one to kind of bring these two together," he said.
Putin said Thursday he has nothing against a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, but the necessary conditions had to be created. NBC News reported Sunday that the White House may invite the Ukrainian leader to Alaska.
- US cautious about China tariffs despite Russian oil purchases
The US is cautious about imposing tariffs on China similar to those imposed on India for Russian oil purchases.
When asked if Trump would apply similar measures to China, Vance said: "Well, the president said he's thinking about it, but he hasn't made any firm decisions."
"Obviously, the China issues are a little bit more complicated, because our relationship with China -- just it affects a lot of other things that have nothing to do with the Russian situation," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in July that the US will not compete with China on sovereignty regarding Russian oil purchases, acknowledging Beijing takes sovereignty "very seriously."
Trump raised Indian tariffs to 50% from an earlier announced rate of 25 %, accusing New Delhi of profiting from Russian oil purchases.
Trump has threatened to impose 100% secondary tariffs on countries maintaining trade with Russia without a resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
