Ohio senator Vance stirs controversy with Ukraine comments
"This is a disaster for Ukraine," said a high-ranking EU official in an interview with Politico, commenting on the selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as the vice-presidential candidate. "We must quickly end the war in Ukraine so America can focus on the real problem, China," Vance said in a recent interview.
6:47 AM EDT, July 16, 2024
"Much of Europe was already panicked about a second Trump presidency and its implications for U.S. foreign policy. Now Donald Trump’s decision to pick J.D. Vance as his running mate has allies even more worried that the U.S. will cut off aid to Ukraine and abandon other transatlantic priorities," writes Politico.
Vance: I don't care what happens to Ukraine
Vance has made his views on Ukraine clear. In 2022, he told Steve Bannon in an interview, "I have to be honest with you, I really don't care what happens to Ukraine."
In February 2024, when Vance first appeared at the Munich Security Conference, he told Politico that the USA must reassess its support for Ukraine and left a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation and other senators.
Since then, his rhetoric has become more sharpened. The 39-year-old senator criticized Europe's dependence on the United States for defense spending and specifically criticized Germany for failing to meet the NATO target of allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense spending.
Vance: We must quickly end the war in Ukraine
Vance himself, in his first interview after being selected as the U.S. vice-presidential candidate, suggested that the current administration could lead to nuclear war. "We must quickly end the war in Ukraine so America can focus on the real problem, China," he said.
He responded in this way to his views on the war in Ukraine, which diverged from the majority of the party's mainstream.
J.D. Vance expressed that President Trump intended to visit Russia and Ukraine to quickly resolve their conflict, allowing America to concentrate on its primary concern, China, which he believes poses the biggest threat to the nation. He emphasized that the U.S. is currently too distracted to address this significant issue.
Vance also supported a tough policy towards Iran and suggested it should be "hit hard." He also accused Joe Biden of "doing nothing to help our ally Israel" and instead prolonging the war, making it harder to achieve lasting peace.
In an interview on Fox, the Ohio senator, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also softened his earlier stance on abortion, supporting Trump's stance to leave abortion policy in the hands of individual states.
source: Politico / PAP
