United States Vice-President J D Vance said that a negotiated peace understanding between Russia and Ukraine was not likely to satisfy either side, adding that both would probably be “unhappy”.

“It’s not going to make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News.

Vance further said that US was aiming for a settlement which would be accepted by both countries.

Trump-Putin meeting on August 15

Vance’s statement comes after the US announced an upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, with the meeting expected to help make progress in negotiating an end to the war.

Trump had earlier said that Russia and Ukraine were close to reaching a ceasefire deal, which could possibly put an end to the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, while suggesting that Ukraine might have to surrender significant territory.

In response to the suggestion, Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky said that the country would not violate its constitution on territorial issues, adding the country would not give its land “to occupiers”.

Zelensky further asserted that any decisions taken without Ukraine’s involvement “are at the same time decisions against peace”, and that these would not work.

However, Vance said that while the US was trying to schedule a meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky, it would not be productive for the Russian President to meet his Ukrainian counterpart before speaking to Trump.

“We’re at a point now where we’re trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict,” Vance said in the interview.

A White House official also stated that Trump would be open to a summit with both leaders, but that the US was now focused on planning the bilateral meeting with Putin.