U.S. has 'No Plans' to Recognize Palestinian State
VP Vance dismissed US plans to recognize Palestine, citing lack of "functional government," contrasting UK's September deadline tied to Gaza ceasefire. Talks with UK's Lammy also covered Israel's Gaza control plans.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday ruled out any American plans to follow Britain in recognizing a Palestinian state, as he met U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening, the 17th-century country residence in Kent, southeast of London.
The two officials began their meeting with a fishing session at a carp pond before turning to a weighty agenda that included the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and broader global economic matters.
Speaking to reporters before the talks, Vance responded to the U.K.’s announcement that it would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. “I don’t know what it would mean to really recognize a Palestinian state, given the lack of functional government there,” he said, making clear Washington’s stance that it has “no plans” to take such a step.
Vance also addressed Israel’s stated intention to “take military control” of Gaza, saying he expected President Donald Trump to “talk at some point to the media about his response” to the development. “Our goals are very clear. We want to make it so that Hamas can’t attack innocent people. We want to solve humanitarian problems in Gaza,” he added.
When pressed on whether President Trump had been briefed in advance on Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza City, Vance declined to confirm, stating, “If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already.”
The high-profile meeting between Lammy and Vance comes at a sensitive moment for Middle East diplomacy, as London and Washington navigate diverging approaches to Palestinian statehood against the backdrop of continuing conflict in Gaza.
