Vance says Russia-Ukraine peace likely to leave both sides dissatisfied

JD Vance meets UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House, August 8, 2025
Reuters

U.S. Vice President JD Vance says a possible settlement between Russia and Ukraine will probably leave both Moscow and Kyiv unhappy, as Washington works to bring leaders together for talks.

Speaking in a Fox News interview aired on Sunday, Vance explained that Washington’s goal was to reach a settlement that both countries could accept, even if reluctantly.

"It's not going to make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 August in Alaska to negotiate an end to the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Trump said Moscow and Kyiv were close to a ceasefire deal, which could involve Ukraine surrendering significant territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, said on Saturday that the country’s constitution forbids giving up territory. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers," he said.

Vance noted that the United States was working to arrange talks between Putin, Zelenskyy, and Trump, but he suggested it would be more productive for Putin to meet Trump first. "We're at a point now where we're trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict," he said.

Tags