'Bring peace to Europe again': JD Vance hails Trump's mission during UK visit ahead of Alaska summit

Donald Trump is set to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska for a peace summit.

It comes after Mr Vance and the US president joined a call with Sir Keir Starmer and leaders from across Europe, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the war in Ukraine.

During the call on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said Mr Trump's interventions over the Ukraine war have created a "viable" chance of a ceasefire.

The Foreign Secretary hosted the US Vice-President at his official resident at Chevening House, Kent, last week.

JD Vance also described the UK and US' relationship as "a beautiful alliance".

Speaking to American troops and their families at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, Mr Vance said: "I started the week in a place called Chevening, with the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, further south in the country, in a county called Kent.

"And what we did is we worked on one of our most important shared security goals in Europe, which is the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"The President of the United States came in six months ago, and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage, and he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again.

"But as you all know, it is impossible to bring peace anywhere, unless the bad guys are also worried that we've got a hell of a fine air force, and a hell of a fine military to back up the peace to begin with."

Earlier, David Lammy has referred himself to the environment watchdog because he did not have a rod licence to go fishing with Mr Vance.

The Foreign Secretary failed to catch any fish when he hosted the US vice president at his grace-and-favour retreat at Chevening House, Kent.

Anglers in England and Wales aged 13 or over must have a rod licence to fish for freshwater species, such as carp, according to the Environment Agency.

The Foreign Office said Mr Lammy had written to the watchdog about an "administrative error" after becoming aware that he did not possess the required licence, as first reported by The Sun.

"The Foreign Secretary has written to the Environment Agency over an administrative oversight that meant the appropriate licences had not been acquired for fishing on a private lake as part of a diplomatic engagement at Chevening House last week," a spokesperson for the department said.

"As soon as the Foreign Secretary was made aware of the administrative error, he successfully purchased the relevant rod fishing licences.

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"He also wrote to the Environment Agency notifying them of the error, demonstrating how it would be rectified, and thanking them for their work protecting Britain's fisheries."

During their visit, Mr Vance described Mr Lammy as a "good friend" and a "very, very gracious host".

The vice president added: "Unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught fish, but the Foreign Secretary did not."

All fish that were caught were returned to the private lake, the PA news agency understands.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "Everyone who goes fishing needs a licence to help improve our rivers, lakes and the sport anglers love.

"We understand the relevant licences have been purchased."

Mr Vance visited Chevening while on holiday in the Cotswolds with his family.

Ahead of Friday's meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin is "bluffing" and still wants to occupy Ukraine.

Speaking following a call with Mr Trump and European leaders, the Ukrainian president urged the American leader not to trust Putin’s claims.

"Putin is bluffing - he is trying to push forward along the whole front," he said.

He added that Putin "is also bluffing, saying he doesn't care about the sanctions and that they're not working".