Zelenskyy meets with Vance, says Ukraine needs

Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year’s Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a “durable” peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.

“We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace,” Vance said. “Not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road.” 

Zelenskyy thanked Vance for the meeting, but stressed the need to address guarantees of Ukraine’s security in negotiating an end to the conflict, which is about to enter its fourth year. 

“Really, what we need is to speak more, to work more and to prepare the plan of how to stop Putin and finish the war,” Zelensky said. “We want this very much, but we need real security guarantees.” 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, and deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus were at the table with Vance. 

President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy Wednesday and directed his national security team to begin work on negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv Wednesday, the first top Trump administration official to meet in person with the Ukrainian president since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term.

After that meeting, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would prepare an agreement to strengthen Ukraine’s security and economic relations with the U.S., related to the country’s rare earth minerals. 

Mr. Trump indicated before the Munich meeting that aid to Ukraine could be conditioned on access to rare earth minerals in the country.

“We are going to have all this money in there, and I say I want it back. And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth,” the president recently told Fox News. “They have essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid.” 

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Friday that the U.S. should arm Ukraine with “a bunch” of F-16 fighter jets in exchange for the minerals. 

“How do you deter Putin? You arm this guy to the teeth,” Graham said in Munich while appearing alongside several of his Senate colleagues and Zelenskyy on a panel. “So let’s arm this guy. Let’s do the minerals agreement, so we’ll have our American business interest. Putin doesn’t understand what’s going on. If we sign this minerals agreement, Putin is screwed, because Trump will defend the deal.” 

Graham also said NATO membership for Ukraine should stay on the table as a threat to Putin.  

“If we can’t agree they should be in NATO like right now, can we agree that if there’s ever another invasion, the moment they invade, they’d go into NATO,” Graham said. “I think we’ll let Putin know that if he ever does this again, they’re going into NATO really quick.” 

At last year’s gathering in Munich, Vance, then a U.S. senator, declined to meet with Zelenskyy, telling Politico at the time that he didn’t think he “would learn anything new.” 

The vice president also met Friday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British foreign secretary David Lammy. 

A negotiated settlement to end the war in Ukraine was a central focus of Vance’s discussions with world leaders at the conference this week, sources told CBS News. 

Vance did not respond to questions from reporters when asked if Ukraine should be able to join NATO. 

Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was “OK” with taking the idea of Ukraine joining NATO off the negotiating table, characterizing the proposal as “not practical.” 

In remarks at the conference, Vance reiterated that Mr. Trump would like to see European allies in NATO contribute at least 5% of their gross domestic product to increased security spending, and he also made that point in meetings with European leaders.

“While the Trump administration is very concerned with European security, and believes that we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine, we also believe that it’s important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for its own defense,” Vance said. 

Vance lectured Europeans at the conference, telling them, “The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia; it’s not China.” 

“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” the vice president said.

And he proceeded to condemn enforcement actions taken by European allies against their citizens, noting the conviction for incitement in Sweden of a man who burned a Quran, raids in Germany of people suspected of posting misogynistic hate speech online, and a case in Britain involving the conviction of a man accused of breaching the safe zone near an abortion clinic in order to pray.

“I believe deeply that there is not security if you’re afraid of the voices and opinions that guide your people,” Vance said, adding, “if you’re running in fear from your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” 

contributed to this report.

Olivia Rinaldi

Olivia Rinaldi is a White House reporter at CBS News. She covered President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and was previously an associate producer for “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” and a broadcast associate for “Face the Nation.” She is based in Washington, D.C.