By Steve Holland
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday defended President Donald Trump’s negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying it could help bring about the end of the Ukraine war.
“How are you going to end the war unless you’re talking to Russia?” Vance said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
A U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Riyadh with a Russian delegation on Tuesday to discuss how to end the Ukraine war. Ukraine was not included, prompting complaints from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
In the days since, Trump and Zelenskiy have traded insults. Trump called his Ukrainian counterpart a dictator and falsely suggested Ukraine started the war. Zelenskiy said Trump was repeating Russian disinformation.
Vance steered clear of the specifics of the controversy as he spoke at the large gathering of conservatives meeting on the outskirts of Washington. He called Trump “an effective negotiator” who “doesn’t take anything off the table.”
As a result of Trump’s stepped-up efforts on the Ukraine war, “I really believe we’re on the cusp of peace in Europe for the first time in three years,” said Vance.
Vance made a high-profile appearance at the Munich Security Conference last week, where he castigated European leaders for not taking stronger action to control migrants entering their countries and accused them of silencing critics of migration policies.
He drew criticism in Europe for the remarks. On Thursday, he got a standing ovation among conservatives when moderator Mercedes Schlapp mentioned his Munich speech on the CPAC stage.
Vance said Trump, who has demanded NATO allies pay more for the common defense, wants strong alliances with Europe “but I really do think the strength of those alliances is going to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction.”
Vance dismissed criticism from Democrats that the Trump White House has failed to concentrate more on bringing down inflation, saying Trump has only been in office a month and that it will take time.
“There’s a lot more that we can do, but I think we’ve got a pretty good start,” he said.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)
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