The selection of Ohio Senator J. D. Vance as Donald Trump's running mate this week has sent ripples of concern around the globe, felt not least in Ukraine.
One of the most vocal opponents of U.S. aid to Ukraine, Vance has an extensive back catalog of statements that might raise eyebrows in Kyiv and smiles in Moscow.
"I think J. D. Vance is the worst possible pick, he has no real moral center and clearly just wants power and fame," former Republican U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger told the Kyiv Independent.
"He and Trump have to be beaten," Kinzinger said.
Here is Vance on Ukraine, in his own words.
Owen Racer
'I don't really care what happens to Ukraine, one way or the other'
In an interview with former Trump adviser, Steve Bannon, just five days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Vance said he doesn’t "really care what happens to Ukraine, one way or the other."
He went on to play down the threat from Russia, dismissing increasingly alarming warnings from the U.S. government that Russia was about to launch a full-scale invasion.
"We did not serve in the Marine Corps to go and fight Vladimir Putin because he didn’t believe in transgender rights, which is what the U.S. State Department is saying is a major problem with Russia," he said.
Vance made the comments as 150,000 Russian troops were amassed on the Ukrainian border.
While the U.S. and other Western countries have widely criticized Moscow's treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, which was recently deemed an “extremist organization” by the Russian Supreme Court, there is no indication that it was a primary factor in the deteriorating relations between Russia and the U.S. in February 2022.
A more likely explanation was the impending full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, the prospect of sending U.S. troops to fight Russia was even more unlikely than it is in July 2024, more than two years into the full-scale war.
On the day the full-scale invasion was launched, Vance made a condemnation of sorts, describing it as an "unquestionable tragedy," but partially absolved Russian President Vladimir Putin of blame.
Instead he claimed a policy of "isolating Russia," imposed by "elites" had driven Putin "directly into the arms of Chinese Communists."
"Putin is an evil man, but the foreign policy establishment that led Ukraine directly into the slaughterhouse deserves nothing but scorn," he added.
'I don't care enough'
Any hopes that seeing the largest land war in Europe since World War II unfold would elicit some sympathy from Vance, were quashed in another interview with Bannon in March 2022.
"I've got to be honest with you, Steve, when I wake up in the morning, I worry about whether my 5-year-old son is going to interact with a sex trafficker," he said as millions of women and children fled Ukraine.
"And that's what I care the most about."
"I don't care enough about what's going on over there that I'm going to step in, get a bunch of our citizens killed and pour more and more money into the war sinkhole while we've got our own problems here at home," Vance said.
The video of the interview has since been removed from YouTube.
Two days earlier in an interview with Newsmax, Vance had even tried to blame the media for the full-scale invasion, saying "if the New York Times (NYT) and other media outlets had told the truth about (Hunter) Biden’s corruption, we may not be in this crisis to begin with."
Two-and-a-half years on, it is still not clear how media coverage of Hunter Biden forced Putin to invade Ukraine.
'All the nuance of a resistance Twitter liberal'
Vance has directed personal criticism and insults toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly, describing a trip to Washington in December 2023 as "gross."
In an interview with Politico at the start of the trip, Zelensky had said long delays in a U.S. aid bill for Ukraine would only be seen positively by "(Vladimir) Putin and his sick clique."
"Great to see Zelensky has all the nuance of a resistance Twitter liberal. Disgraceful," Vance said.
Great to see Zelensky has all the nuance of a resistance Twitter liberal. Disgraceful. And gross that he’s coming to the Senate to apply pressure against Republicans as we fight for more border security. https://t.co/0yD731ZPZj
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) December 11, 2023
Vance has consistently opposed military aid for Ukraine and has been one of the most vocal opponents in Washington.
Beyond opposition to further aid, Vance has since opposed the seizure of frozen Russian assets and falsely claimed: “We simply have no idea where a lot of our money to Ukraine has gone.”
'Admirable people'
As the war entered its third year, and the costs of delays in U.S. aid were made tragically clear, Vance's stance has evolved into one of accepting defeat, rather than attempt to fight Russian aggression and resulting global consequences that would follow.
Speaking to Politico in February, Vance described Ukrainians as "admirable people," but flagged a "a lack of strategic clarity" and a lack of manufacturing capacity to support a ground war in Eastern Europe.
"How long is this expected to go on? How much is it expected to cost? And importantly, how are we actually supposed to produce the weapons necessary to support the Ukrainians?" he said.
Vance's proposed solution to the war came in a recent interview with the NYT on June 13.
"What I would like to do, and what I think fundamentally is achievable here with American leadership- is you freeze the territorial lines somewhere close to where they are right now," he said.
"Number two, is you guarantee both Kyiv's independence but also its neutrality.”
Vance conceded that "there’s going to have to be some American security assistance over the long term," and added that it "is not in our interest" to let Russia take over the rest of Ukraine.
Although Vance didn't specify exactly where the territorial lines could "freeze," his proposal would likely be positively received in the Kremlin.
Putin said on June 14 that, as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Ukraine has insisted that a full withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory is necessary for peace negotiations to begin.
"Former President Trump's selection of Vance is a huge disappointment to all Republicans who want to see Ukraine win, Russia lose, and Putin defeated," Republicans for Ukraine's Director of Strategy, John Conway, told the Kyiv Independent in a written statement.
"Vance has a long history of confusing free, America-loving countries like Ukraine with tyrannical, corrupt, anti-American dictatorships like Russia."
"The establishment of the Republican Party cannot continue to ignore the millions of Republicans who value American national security and understand that Ukraine is America’s friend and Putin is America’s enemy.”
Chris York
