The European countries may “step up” and buy American weapons for Kiev if they want, the US VP has said
Washington is not going to fund Ukraine anymore, US Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News on Sunday.
Ukraine’s European backers can buy the weapons from American producers if they want to continue supporting Kiev, and the US will be “okay with that,” Vance added. “But we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore,” he said.
The interview was published after Vance met with several European and Ukrainian officials in London, including UK Foreign Minister David Lammy. According to media reports, Vance’s trip was intended to pave the way for a summit between the Russian and US presidents in Alaska on Friday, where resolving the conflict between Kiev and Moscow is expected to be at the top of the agenda.
Vance suggested that Kiev’s European backers should play a bigger role providing funding if they “care so much about this conflict.”
“Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars, to this particular conflict. But if the Europeans want to step up and buy the weapons from American producers, we’re okay with that. But we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore,” he said.
The US president had said earlier that the ideas under discussion include “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” sides, adding that Vladimir Zelensky would need to find a way to approve such a deal under Ukrainian law.
Zelensky has rejected any such agreement, claiming that “nobody can or will” make concessions on the issue. “The Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupiers,” he proclaimed.
Moscow’s senior negotiator Kirill Dmitriev has warned that countries trying to prolong the Ukraine conflict will likely go to great lengths to derail the planned meeting between Putin and Trump.
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