United States Vice President J.D. Vance doubted a negotiated peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, indicating that any such agreement would keep both sides unhappy.
Vance further stated that the US is looking to facilitate a mutually acceptable settlement.
Vance's statement came in the wake of an announcement that the then-President Donald Trump will meet the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. The meeting was expected to push forward the endeavor to bring an end to the ongoing war.
Trump had previously said that Russia and Ukraine were close to a ceasefire agreement that would conclude the war, now in excess of three and a half years. He also intimated, though, that Ukraine could have to yield important land.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejected any deal that would contravene Ukraine's constitution on territorial integrity, stating that the nation would not give away land "to occupiers."
Zelensky also reiterates that those peace decisions made without Ukrainian participation would, in his opinion, "be decisions against peace" and would end up failing.
Though the US is currently trying to facilitate a meeting among Trump, Putin, and Zelensky, Vance added that it would be pointless for Putin and Zelensky to meet prior to Putin communicating with Trump.
We're to the point now where we're working on, quite frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could get together and work out an ending of this conflict," Vance said in an interview.
A White House official also stated that Trump is willing to have a summit with both leaders but confirmed that the focus now is on coordinating the bilateral meeting with Putin.
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