US Vice President JD Vance met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Munich, ahead of a planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Vance emphasized the US's readiness to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine and reassured European allies about their inclusion in peace talks. He stressed the need for Europe to share more of the burden for its own defense. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy expressed his willingness to engage in direct talks with Russia once a shared understanding with the US and Europe on ending the war is reached.
US Vice President JD Vance participates in a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Commerzbank in Munich, Germany, on Feb 14, 2025.
"The president is not going to go in this with blinders on," Vance was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal.Vance also said Washington had"military leverage" it could use against Russia, and that he backed Ukraine's"sovereign independence". Hegseth also argued that you"don't have to trust" Putin to negotiate with Russia, two days after Trump stunned allies by saying he had heldThe Munich conference was dominated by deep concern that Washington and Moscow are working towards a bad peace deal for Ukraine, which would have to cede territory to Russia and be denied a chance to join NATO.
Germany's defence minister Boris Pistorius warned that Europe could not replace US forces in Europe"overnight", and suggested there should be a gradual"roadmap" for any withdrawal.Zelenskyy was in Munich to also meet European leaders and push his demand for a"just peace", almost three years into the gruelling conflict, which has seen Russian forces take control of about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Zelenskyy on Thursday warned world leaders"against trusting Putin's claims of readiness to end the war". Trump said on Thursday that"high-level people" from Moscow, Kyiv and Washington would meet in Munich on Friday - but conference organisers and Moscow later denied this.
UKRAINE WAR RUSSIA US NATO PEACE TALKS EUROPE
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