Vice President JD Vance met with European allies and Ukrainian officers in a day of high-stakes diplomatic talks on Saturday — lower than every week earlier than a historic assembly between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The talks within the UK got here only a day after Trump announced the face-to-face meeting with Putin set for Aug. 15 in Alaska to proceed negotiations to finish the battle that has dragged on for greater than three years.
A U.S. official advised ABC Information the Saturday talks Vance took half in “produced important progress towards President Trump’s aim of bringing an finish to the battle in Ukraine.”
Vice President JD Vance and Britain’s Overseas Secretary David Lammy throughout a gathering at Chevening Home in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025.
Kin Cheung/AP
The talks Saturday came about on the UK international secretary’s property, Chevening Home in Kent, England. Vance met with Overseas Secretary David Lammy and representatives from Ukraine and different European allies.
The UK assembly got here because the upcoming Trump-Putin summit — set to occur with out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the desk — has raised concern amongst Ukrainian officers and throughout Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday morning he had spoken with each Zelenskyy and different European leaders and that, “The way forward for Ukraine can’t be determined with out the Ukrainians who’ve been preventing for his or her freedom and safety for over three years now.”
Talking from the White Home on Friday, Trump instructed discussions to finish the battle might embody “some swapping of territories,” which Zelenskyy later swiftly rejected, saying Ukraine “won’t give Russia any awards for what it has completed” and that “Ukrainians won’t give their land to the occupier.”
Zelenskyy and different Ukrainian officers have additionally insisted that any negotiations should embody Ukraine on the desk.
“Our positions had been clear: a dependable, lasting peace is just attainable with Ukraine on the negotiating desk, with full respect for our sovereignty and with out recognizing the occupation,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Workplace of the President of Ukraine, mentioned in a press release Saturday that additionally thanked JD Vance for participating within the UK talks.
President Donald Trump in Washington, Aug. 6, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome, July 10, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Aug. 5, 2025.
Reuters/Getty Photos/AP
In an tackle Saturday night, Zelenskyy known as the talks Saturday within the UK “constructive” and mentioned they got here throughout an “energetic day of diplomacy” between Ukraine and several other EU allies.
“All our messages had been conveyed,” Zelenskyy mentioned of the talks with Vance. “Our arguments are being heard. The dangers are being taken under consideration. The trail to peace for Ukraine have to be decided collectively – and solely collectively – with Ukraine. That is basic. And it’s important that our joint approaches and shared imaginative and prescient work towards a real peace. A consolidated place. A ceasefire. An finish to the occupation. An finish to the battle.”
Talking extra broadly, Zelenskyy mentioned he believes Trump “has the leverage and the willpower” to finish the battle, including that “Ukraine has supported all of President Trump’s proposals, beginning again in February.”
Friday marked the deadline Trump set for Putin to conform to a ceasefire with Ukraine or face “secondary sanctions” towards international locations that purchase oil from Russia.
However uncertainty remained as as to whether the U.S. would hit Moscow with new financial penalties — and Trump has now agreed to fulfill with Putin.
The assembly in Alaska shall be Putin’s first assembly with a serious Western chief since Russia invaded Ukraine greater than three years in the past — and his first go to to the U.S. in 10 years.
