After Vance meeting, Zelensky says Ukraine values Trump's 'determination'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv values President Trump’s “determination” to end the war in Eastern Europe after meeting with Vice President Vance in Germany on Friday. 

Zelensky said he had a “good” meeting with Vance, who was in Munich alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Russia-Ukraine special envoy Keith Kellogg, and that Kyiv is prepared to move “quickly” to reach a peace agreement. 

“Our teams will continue to work on the document. We addressed many key issues and look forward to welcoming General Kellogg to Ukraine for further meetings and a deeper assessment of the situation on the ground,” Zelensky said in a Friday post on the social platform X. 

“We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace. We deeply value President Trump’s determination, which can help stop the war and secure justice and security guarantees for Ukraine,” Ukraine’s president added. 

Earlier Friday, during his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky said the U.S. did not want Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance even before the Trump administration began to alter the U.S. approach to the war that has been raging for nearly three years. 

“The U.S. never saw us in NATO, they just spoke about it. They really didn’t want us in NATO,” he said, later adding that if Ukraine is not permitted to join the military alliance, “we’ll make NATO in Ukraine.”

Trump has pressed for reaching a peace agreement in the conflict. He spoke separately with Russia President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky on Wednesday, with Ukraine’s leader saying it was “not pleasant” that the commander in chief dialed the Kremlin first. 

The president later that day told reporters he was unsure if Ukraine could return to having its pre-2014 borders before Russia annexed Crimea. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he did not think Kyiv’s insertion into NATO is a “realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” comments he appeared to walk back Thursday, telling reporters “everything is on the table” in negotiations between the two Eastern European countries. 

Trump’s recent approach to reaching a ceasefire has worried European leaders. Zelensky said Thursday that Ukraine will not accept a potential agreement between Russia and the U.S. unless Kyiv is directly involved in those talks. 

Vance, who has in the past expressed skepticism toward Washington’s aid to Ukraine, criticized European leaders regarding immigration and freedom of speech Friday during his address at the conference.

“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there’s nothing America can do for you,” Vance said while briefly mentioning the war in Eastern Europe.