00:00And 22 minutes now before the top of the hour, Vice President J.D. Vance suggesting energetic
00:05diplomacy is what will end the war between Ukraine and Russia. Listen.
00:11We're trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and the Ukrainians to find a
00:16middle ground to stop the killing. I think what the president has tried to do here is try to engage
00:20in very aggressive, very energetic diplomacy because this war is not in anyone's interest.
00:26It's not in Europe or the United States' interest. We don't think it's in Russia or Ukraine's
00:30interest to keep going. So we're going to keep on pushing for a diplomatic solution.
00:34The problem is I think Russia thinks it's in their interest. Joining us right now is NATO
00:38Ambassador Matt Whitaker. Matt, look at the demands that Russia just hoisted on us. No NATO membership,
00:45surrender the whole Donbass region that's been fortified and held off Russian offenses since
00:512014. I don't see that happening. No Western troops on Ukrainian soil. 180-degree turn from what we
00:57thought was agreed upon in Alaska. That seems like three non—or two of three non-starters.
01:06Yeah, those are certainly maximalist demands from the Russian side. And, you know, Brian,
01:11good to be with you. I think what J.D. Vance is saying is absolutely right. You know,
01:15President Trump's the only one that could bring Vladimir Putin to the table. You know,
01:19he has certainly got our Ukrainian friends in a place where they are willing to, you know,
01:27make peace. And I think he's going to keep working it. You know, before I was a diplomat,
01:31I was a lawyer, as you know, Brian, and participated in a lot of mediations. And what you see out of
01:36mediators, kind of the role President Trump's playing is trying to get everybody, you know,
01:41to give up a little something, get them closer to the middle, get them closer to a deal. And I think
01:45that's what you're seeing. And there's so many cards that President Trump can still play, Brian.
01:50You know, we obviously were moving weapons at NATO here to selling American armaments and munitions
01:56to our European NATO allies in Canada, who are then giving them to Ukraine. So that, you know,
02:02that certainly can be ramped up and is going very well. But we also have tariffs and secondary
02:08sanctions. You've seen India not happy that those were put on them. China should be, and Brazil,
02:14who are also buying Russian oil, should be ready if they, you know, don't help the world bring this
02:20to an end. So President Trump has a lot of cards. And I think that energetic diplomacy is exactly
02:25right. That's what he's doing. He's bringing all the tools that he has at his disposal. He's playing
02:30them appropriately, trying to get the folks to an agreement on peace. Ambassador, the main problem
02:36is the reason why the president's had success, in my humble opinion, with the other six wars that
02:40he stopped, as both sides thought they needed to stop. It's how it was going to stop. I don't think
02:46both sides think this should stop. It looks like Ukraine is the one. What do you think about Lavrov,
02:53who is a, whatever you think of him, he's an experienced foreign policy person, going on the
02:58offensive, sitting down with an American network and saying this ridiculous statement. Watch.
03:05We never target civilian, civilian sides, that we only attack the sides which are directly involved
03:15in the Ukrainian military machine, which the West is trying to beef up. And if you have any proof of
03:29what you just said about churches, kindergarten, schools, and so on and so forth, I challenge you.
03:35Sure. Make it public.
03:38He doesn't think we have video of him hitting apartment buildings in schools? I mean, why say
03:44something so farcical? Yeah, well, I think it's been said before, if Lavrov's mouth is moving,
03:51then he's lying. Because this is not someone that has a deep connection with facts and reality. But at the
03:58same time, you know, I think the Russians have a domestic political issue where they've essentially
04:03said that Ukraine's not a real country. Zelensky's not a real leader, not an elected
04:10democratic president. And so there's been several things that they've staked, you know, position out
04:15that's just incorrect. And I think it's very difficult for them to square that circle. But,
04:20you know, one of the things Ukraine is developing is deep strike capabilities. In addition to what
04:24the United States weapons that our European allies are buying and then providing together
04:30with Canada to Ukraine. And so that deep strike capabilities in the recent attacks by the Ukrainians
04:36on Russian oil and gas infrastructure is slowly changing the calculation. Together with what I
04:44mentioned earlier on the tariffs and sanctions, we're going to get to a piece. And I think President
04:49Trump is the only person that is going to be able to bring this to a conclusion. But again,
04:54both sides are going to have to agree to a deal. He's got to turn the screws. I agree with you about
04:58Lavrov, but he speaks for Putin. So that's what we're dealing with. Real quick, the Wall Street
05:02Journal came out with a story saying that quietly the Pentagon is preventing Ukraine from using the
05:09long-range missiles, the Atakums, to strike in Russia. The president put on Truth Social that he
05:16thought it's hard to win a war when you're only in the defensive and not able to attack the other
05:20country. They don't seem to mesh. Is the White House on a different page from the Pentagon?
05:28Well, President Trump's absolutely right. You know, you can't fight a war with one or two hands
05:33tied behind your back. And whether or not they are able to use American weapons to do deep strikes,
05:39they're developing their own technology that is going to be certainly unshackled from anybody
05:43telling them what to do and what they can't do. But at the same time, President Trump is a duly
05:48elected president of the United States. He gets to decide what the U.S. policies are. And if he
05:52thinks that Ukraine should be able to use American weapons that are being bought by our Canadian and
05:58European NATO allies to be used for deep strikes, then they'll be used for deep strikes.
06:03You got it. Ambassador Matt Whitaker, busy guy these days. Thanks so much.
06:06I'm Steve Doocy. I'm Brian Kilmeade. And I'm Ainsley Earhart. And click here to subscribe to the
06:10Fox News YouTube page to catch our hottest interviews and most compelling analysis.
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