'It's not gonna make anybody super happy' — JD Vance praises Trump as peacemaker while admitting Russia-Ukraine deal may fail

U.S. Vice President JD Vance praised President Donald Trump's peacemaking abilities in an interview on Aug. 10, though he admitted the U.S.-brokered settlement to end Russia's war against Ukraine would likely not "make anybody super happy" and may not succeed at all.

Vance's comments come ahead of a bilateral meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin set to take place on Aug. 15 in Alaska. The leaders will discuss a deal to end the war that would reportedly involve Ukraine ceding new territories to Russia.

The meeting represents "a major breakthrough for American diplomacy," Vance told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Aug. 10.

Vance indicated that a trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin, and President Volodymyr Zelensky was on the table, saying Trump had worked "aggressively" to convince the two leaders to come together.

"We're now trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders can sit down and discuss an end to this conflict," he said.

Vance did not say whether this trilateral summit would occur at the Aug. 15 meeting in Alaska, and said he did not think it would be "that productive" for Putin and Zelensky to meet with one another before meeting with Trump. A White House official told CNN on Aug. 10 that Zelensky's participation in the upcoming Alaska meeting remains a possibility.

The aim of the leader-level meetings is to find a workable peace agreement, Vance said, though he did not provide details as to what such an agreement might entail. The plan will likely not be popular with either Russia or Ukraine, he said.

"We're gonna try to find some kind of negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops," Vance said.

"It's not gonna make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians probably at the end of the day are gonna be unhappy with it. But I don't think you can actually sit down and have this negotiation absent the leadership of Donald J. Trump."

Zelensky on Aug. 9 firmly rejected the idea of ceding any Ukrainian territory to end Russia's war, stating that "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier." He warned that peace deal favoring Moscow would give Russia a chance to regroup and launch a new invasion.

According to Vance, Trump told the vice president privately that the negotiations may not succeed in ending the war.

"He said, 'maybe this works out, maybe it doesn't, but it's worth the effort,'" Vance said.

"It's worth trying and we're gonna keep on using the diplomatic influence of the President of the United States to accomplish an end to this conflict."

According to a source in Ukraine's Presidential Office, Russia's proposal to end the war would see Kyiv withdraw its troops from two of the partly occupied Ukrainian regions — Donetsk and Luhansk. As a "sign of good will," Russia would then withdraw its troops from northeastern Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts, where the Kremlin holds some territories.

Ukraine would reject this proposal outright, the source told the Kyiv Independent.

Trump previously said that a potential peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv would likely include "some swapping of territories."

Vance heaped praise on Trump's abilities as a diplomat, citing his role in a number of foreign conflicts and saying it was "amazing" to have a president "working to stop the killing." He also issued a condemnation of Russia's full-scale invasion without naming Russia or mentioning Moscow's ongoing occupation, offensives, or campaign of aerial attacks.

"We of course condemn the invasion that happened," he said.

"We don't like that this is where things are, but you've gotta make peace here, and the only way to make peace is to sit down and talk. You can't finger point, you can't wag your finger at somebody and say 'you're wrong, we're right.' The way to peace is to have a decisive leader sit down and force people to come together."

Vance further praised Trump's plan to sell U.S.-made weapons to NATO countries that will then ship the arms to Ukraine, saying Washington's pressure on Europe shifted the responsibility of funding Kyiv's defense and relieved the American taxpayer.

"We're done with the funding of the Ukraine war business," Vance said.  

Relevant comments 5:40:

This is a major breakthrough for American diplomacy

There has been no substantial breakthrough

We have been aggressively working, trying to break the log jam

One of the most important logjams is that vladimir putin said that he would never sit down with zelensky the head of ukraine and hte president has now got that to change

we're now trying to figure out frankly scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders can sit down and discuss an end to this conflict

now what do i think is ultimately gonna come out of this...

look its' acutally very simple

if you take where the current line of contact between russia nd ukraine is

we're gonna try to find some kind of negotiated settlement that the ukrainians and russians can live with where they can live in relative peace where the killing stops

"It's not going to make anybody super happy" both the russiands and the ukrainians probably at the end of the day are gonna be unhappy with it

but i don't think you can actually sit down and have this negotiation absent the leadership of donald j trump  

the president said this to me today said privately he said

"maybe this works out maybe it doesn't but it's worth the effort it's worth trying and we're gonna keep on using the diplomatic influence of thepresidetne of the united states to accopmlish na end to this conflict

"it's an amazing thing to have a president who is working to stop the killing"

"I actually don't think it would be that productive"

"I think fundamentally the president of the united states has to be the one to kind of bring these two together"

"we're going to keep that dialogue open, but fundamentally, this is something where the president needs to force president putin and president zelensky really to sit down and figure out their differences

"we of course condemnt the invasion  that happened we don't liek that this is where things are but you've gotta make peace here and the only way to make peace is to sit down adn talk you can't finger point you can't [you know] wag your finger at somebody and say you're wrong we're right the way to peace is to have a decisive leader sit down and force people to come together

"i think the president and i certianly think that america, we're done with teh funding of the ukraine war business"

we want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing we want to stop the killing but americans i think are sick of continuing to send their moenty their tax dollars to this particular conflict