Zelensky meets Vance as Ukraine says Russia hit Chernobyl nuclear plant – CNN
Source: CNN
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United States “not to make any decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine” prior to meeting US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
• The US vice president delivered a long diatribe against European leaders at the conference on Friday, accusing them of an overly repressive response to unorthodox political views and even comparing them to Cold War tyrants.
• It’s been a week of major moves for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, with US President Trump appearing to make key concessions to Putin. But Vance warned Thursday the US could hit Russia with economic and military “tools of leverage” if Moscow doesn’t negotiate a peace deal in good faith.
• Meanwhile, Zelensky said a Russian drone struck the former Ukrainian nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, underscoring the crisis on the ground. Emergency services said radiation background limits remain normal.
Our live coverage has ended. Read more on Vance’s speech here or read through the posts below.
NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte called US Vice President JD Vance’s controversial speech on Friday “philosophical,” adding that Vance “stressed the unity of the US and Europe… and alluded to our common values of free speech, of democracy.”
Vance accused European leaders of suppressing free speech and refusing to work with hard-right parties in government in the speech, which Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called “unacceptable.”
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Munich, Germany, Rutte said: “The vice president giving a more philosophical speech here, but he very much stressed the unity of the US and Europe that we are really one family and indeed where he alluded to our common values of free speech, of democracy, etc. and these are values which bind us.”
As to NATO spending, Rutte told CNN he understands the United States’ “irritation” over its higher spending on defense than other NATO members, saying Europe has to “grow up” and “take care” of its own responsibility.
This comes after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week cemented the Trump administration’s demand for NATO members to spend 5% of their GDP on defense.
Rutte went on to say that senior American officials have expressed to him the need to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
A final deal in Ukraine has to be a strong deal… A weak deal on Ukraine will not only have consequences here in Europe and for the collective NATO security, but also for China which will then feel emboldened to move with whatever they want to do,” he said.
US Vice President JD Vance, at a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said he wants to “preserve the optionality” for those working to negotiate an end to the war, and said the goal is for a “durable, lasting peace.”
“We had a number of fruitful conversations and a number of things to follow up and work on,” Vance told reporters sitting directly across from Zelensky in Germany.
“Fundamentally, the goal is as President (Donald) Trump outlined it: We want the war to come to a close. We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” he said.
Asked how this will move forward if Ukraine is not ready to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the table, Vance was reluctant to speak to the parameters of negotiations.
“It’s important for us to get together and start to have the conversations that are going to be necessary to bring this thing to a close. That’s all I’m going to say for now, because I want to preserve the optionality here for the negotiators and our respective teams to bring this thing to a responsible close,” Vance said.
Some background: Vance’s remarks come amid an air of uncertainty and anxiety which has enveloped Europe in the past week after Trump suggested Ukraine “may be Russian someday,” shortly before announcing that peace negotiations would begin immediately after holding a phone call with Putin.
Trump’s announcement sparked fears that a “dirty deal” may be struck with Putin to end the war on terms favorable to Moscow without Kyiv’s involvement.
But Vance warned earlier on Thursday the US could hit Russia with economic and military “tools of leverage” if Moscow doesn’t negotiate a peace deal in good faith.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States for its support following a Friday meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and urged for more dialogue to end the war in Ukraine.
“We are very thankful for Am
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