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MUNICH, Germany -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial Thursday, making a stop at one of the most powerful symbols of World War II on the eve of his critical talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the three-year Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Vance, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is due to sit down Friday with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss President Donald Trump’s intensifying push for Ukraine and Russia to begin negotiations to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
But first Vance is stopping at the solemn memorial that is a powerful reminder of the Nazis' World War II-era atrocities and the U.S. and Western allies' slowness to take decisive action to confront Adolf Hitler and the rise of his violent nationalist ideology.
Dachau was established in 1933 — the same year Hitler took power — as one of the first concentration camps. More than 200,000 people from across Europe were held at the camp, and over 40,000 prisoners died there in horrendous conditions. U.S. soldiers completed the liberation on April 29, 1945.
Vance is in the midst of a five-day visit to France and Germany, his first overseas travel since becoming vice president last month. His wife, Usha Vance, is expected to join him for the Dachau visit.
The moment at Dachau will offer Vance a chance to reflect on the scourges of war just as his boss, Donald Trump, is ratcheting up his efforts to end the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump on Wednesday spoke separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy. Trump said that he and Putin agreed it was time to “start negotiations immediately” to end the war.
And as Trump announced his agreement on negotiations with Putin, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by international troops.
In addition to his talks with Zelenskyy, Vance is scheduled to deliver an address on Friday to the annual Munich Security Conference.
The war in Europe and NATO members' defense spending are expected to be front and center for the world leaders gathering in Munich.
Vance, like Trump, has been a sharp critic of U.S. allies' spending what the administration deems as too little on their defense budgets.
“The Trump administration has been clear that we care a lot about Europe,” Vance said during a meeting this week with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “But we also want to make sure that we're engaged in a security partnership that's both good for Europe and the United States.”
Over nearly three years of war, 50 countries — known as the Ukraine Contact Group — have collectively provided Ukraine with more than $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including more than $66.5 billion from the U.S., which has served as chair of the group since its creation.
Trump in his 2024 campaign derided the enormous amount of U.S. military aid poured into Ukraine and vowed to end the conflict within 24 hours of returning to the White House.
Since his November election victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, Trump and his advisers have dialed back on their boldest timelines and set a goal of ending the war in about six months.
