Former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Ukraine has triggered concerns in Kyiv and among US allies and partners. Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s nomination for vice president on the Republican Party ticket is unlikely to alleviate those fears.
Vance has been critical of US support for Ukraine, and at the Munich Security Forum earlier this year, Vance said the US should “pivot” from Ukraine and Russia’s war.
“I certainly admire the Ukrainians who are fighting against Russia,” he said during a speech in May, “but I do not think that it is in America’s interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine.”
One European official told The Wall Street Journal that with the news of Trump’s new running mate, “Ukraine is in trouble,” while another official told the Guardian that “it’s bad for us, but it’s terrible news for [Ukraine].”
Worries have also been voiced domestically. Following Vance’s nomination, former Rep. Liz Cheney raised several concerns about Vance and criticized his stance on Ukraine and wrote on X that if he were elected, he would “capitulate to Russia and sacrifice the freedom of our allies in Ukraine.”
Vance has indicated his sights are set on East Asia.
He called China the “biggest threat to our country” in an interview with Fox News on Monday. And back in April, he wrote in a New York Times op-ed that the US sending weapons and aid to Ukraine is delaying shipments of weapons to Taiwan.
Trump’s perspective appears a little different, as he notably said in a new interview with Bloomberg that Taiwan should pay the US for defense. Comparing the US to an “insurance company,” he said that the island democracy “doesn’t give us anything.”
Trump has also been an outspoken critic of European defense spending, even going so far as to say he would permit Russia to harm allied nations that don’t pay their fair share. Vance has written that America’s European allies should contribute more to support Ukraine.
“While some European countries have provided considerable resources, the burden of military support has thus far fallen heaviest on the United States,” he said.
Vance voted against the $61 billion package to Ukraine that was eventually approved by US Congress earlier this year.
Trump has also expressed his desire to move on from Ukraine and Russia, having previously said that if he were president again, he could end the conflict within a day. Though he hasn’t said how, the expectation is that Ukraine would have to make unfavorable concessions.
“It ends the way nearly every single war has ever ended: when people negotiate and each side gives up something that it doesn’t want to give up,” Vance said of the Ukraine war back in December, per NBC’s reporting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he believes that the majority of members in the Republican Party support Ukraine and that he is ready to work with the Trump administration.
“If Mr. Donald Trump becomes president, then we will work with him,” Zelenskyy said at a recent press conference. “I am not afraid of it.” It’s less clear, though, what considerations may be playing out privately.
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