Vance Asks Europe To Stem Illegal Migration

Russia Strikes Chernobyl Power Plant Near Ukraine Border, Hours Before Zelenskyy, US V-P Were Set To Discuss The War

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

US Vice-President JD Vance urged European officials to stem illegal migration on the continent during his speech on Friday before the Munich Security Conference.

Vance said the European electorate didn't vote to open "floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants." The vice president earlier in his comments Friday derided Europe for squelching free speech, saying freedom is in danger. He also hammered home the US demand that the NATO alliance step up defense spending, speaking at a time of intense concern and uncertainty over the Trump administration's foreign policy.

The future of Ukraine is the top item on the agenda in Munich following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, when they pledged to work together to end the 3-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Vance was expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later Friday for talks that many observers, particularly in Europe, hope will shed at least some light on Trump's ideas for a negotiated settlement to the war.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the conference that everyone "wants this war to end." But "how this war ends," he said, "will have a lasting influence on our security order and on the position of power of Europe and America in the world."