MUNICH (Reuters) – British foreign minister David Lammy on Friday said he and U.S. Vice President JD Vance agreed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy must be part of any peace talks to end the war with Russia.
“I was very encouraged in our conversations about Ukraine,” Lammy said, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference after meeting with Vance earlier in the day.
“All of us have this desire to bring this horrendous war to an end. We share the view that there has to be an enduring peace… there was an agreement that Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians have to be part of that negotiated deal.”
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump startled U.S. allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and announcing the start of talks to end the war in Ukraine.
“It is not surprising that Donald Trump wanted to speak to Vladimir Putin, and indeed wanted to speak to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but these are just talks at the moment. We are some way from a negotiated peace,” Lammy said.
(This story has been corrected to say Wednesday, not Thursday, in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Christine Uyanik and Louisa, writing by UK bureau, editing by William James)
