Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a chance for peace negotiation meetings with both Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The opportunity came Friday, February 14, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Special presidential envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg was sitting in on the talks.
Keep Zelenskyy in the loop
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn’t thrilled to learn that Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin before checking in with him. He’ll get over it.
VP Vance and the two top ranking diplomats sat him down to fill the Ukrainian leader in on the plan. Just because Trump assured Putin that we won’t let Ukraine join NATO doesn’t mean we’re throwing our ally to the wolves.
“Fundamentally,” Vance explained, “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.”
So what does that mean for Ukraine? Zelenskyy wanted to know from across the table. It means that nothing has been decided yet but you need to be open to making concessions.
By assuring Russia that there won’t be NATO forces camped out on his doorstep, Trump gave Putin the opportunity to relinquish some of the territory he invaded and held.
He’s never going to give up all of it. That’s something that Zelenskyy needs to come to grips with. The fact he holds a big chunk of Russia will go far in negotiations but it won’t get everything back.
Just the beginning
The important thing at this stage of the game is to get Ukraine comfortable with the concept that their map will be re-drawn a little. Trump’s easing Zelenskyy into the water slowly, letting him get his feet and ankles wet before plunging in.
“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,” Vance assured.
Vance wasn’t about to talk specifics. He wants to keep the options open “for the negotiators and our respective teams to bring this thing to a responsible close.”
He told Zelenskyy to cheer up because there have been “good conversations” about how to accomplish “an end to the war.” Any war that’s over is good, the Ukrainian agreed.
The president of Ukraine might not be happy about being the last to know what’s going on but he is happy that someone is trying to end a war he knows he’s never going to win. He doesn’t want to lose it, either.
He’s coming to the realization that he really just doesn’t want to lose too bad. Afterward, Zelenskyy gave a statement for his press. “We have good conversation today, our first meeting, not last, I’m sure,” he relates.
