Presumptive Republican nominee Statement by Donald Trump Monday JD Vance as his sidekick sent ripples through the international community, and Vance wasted little time in letting the party’s world view.
“Together we will make sure that our allies share the burden of ensuring world peace. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.” Vance, a Republican, was elected Vice President said when addressing Republican National Convention on Wednesday night.
If the Republican ticket wins November’s presidential election, the consequences of Vance’s tenure as vice president will be felt in few places more than in Ukraine, where he has repeatedly criticized US support for the war against Russia. His words will likely do little to reassure America’s friends about what a second Trump administration will mean for the 2½-year-old. war in ukraine.
When he was the president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and his senior ministers or generals have not commented on Vance’s nomination, foreign policy experts and Ukrainians are not optimistic about its implications for Kiev’s defense against an invasion of eastern Ukraine.
“The Ukrainians are in a terrible situation,” said Rajan Menon, a defense expert and professor emeritus at the City College of New York. “The US has been the main supplier for a long time compared to the Europeans. If he leaves, the Ukrainians will not only be deprived of air strikes, which are essential to protect their cities, but also of artillery.
While Vance, 39, and the former president appear broadly alike on foreign policy, Vance’s outlook seems more nuanced and coherent. of his future boss. The millennial Ohio senator’s approach to international affairs marks a departure from World War II international “rules-based” order from the foreign policy ideology of previous administrations and indeed former Vice President Mike Pence, who saw America as a global superpower.
Instead, Vance’s thoughts resonate “America First” Ideology and special alliances of Trump’s first term. While his support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unwavering and he has shown openness to strongmen such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, he has unequivocally questioned the aid. Taiwan and called for an immediate end war in ukraine – Allowing Russia to keep the annexed territories will worry Kiev and its NATO allies.
On the eve of Russia’s large-scale land invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Vance noted on the podcast: “I don’t care what happens in Ukraine one way or another.”
In subsequent years, Vance has criticized US aid to Ukraine under President Joe Biden. The A $61 billion aid package The Biden administration, which took office in April, is opposed to the “scarcity” policy that supports Vance’s foreign policy ideology. Like Trump, Vance attacked America’s NATO allies for not paying their fair share of aid to Ukraine.
“Frankly, there is no good reason why US aid is needed,” Vance wrote in London’s Financial Times earlier this year. “Europe consists of many large countries with productive economies.”
He further added that the gap between what Ukraine needs and what America can provide is not only ideological. “It’s math,” he told The New York Times in April of this year. “Ukraine needs more material than the US can provide.”
Even as Europe increases defense spending, Guntram Wolff, former director of the German Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said, “Under a Trump/Vance presidency, this trend will have to accelerate faster.”
Meanwhile, Vance’s candidacy has caused concern on the streets of Kyiv.
“I was surprised when I heard about Trump’s choice,” marketing executive Serhii Juravlev, 32, told NBC News before Vance’s congressional appearance on Wednesday. “Obviously, with such a position, we cannot call him our friend.”
Others were more immediately concerned.
Anna Uryupina, a 34-year-old florist, said: “If a person with such views about Ukraine takes the position of vice president, it will have a bad effect on Ukraine.” “I feel fear and distrust. Just as we are going in the wrong direction because of influential people.”
Russian missiles last week it rained He killed dozens of people in Ukraine and hit a children’s hospital in Kyiv. The attack was the biggest in months, and Ukraine’s air force said it used Russia’s most advanced missiles and was difficult to intercept.
Still, Ukrainians and pundits are skeptical about how much influence Vance will have on Trump, who is expected to accept the Republican nomination on Thursday.
The florist told Uryupina that Vance would do as he was told.
“Vance will provide the appropriate support [Trump]. Because he sees this as an opportunity to become president,” said Menon. “He pretended to be a chameleon.” Vance once called Trump “America’s Hitler.”
That’s what Trump and his allies think war can be avoided It could soon end with concessions made, including allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep some of the annexed territory in eastern Ukraine.
While a former Prime Minister of Great Britain Boris Johnson After speaking with Trump this week, he said: “I have no doubt that he will be strong and determined in his support. [Ukraine] and defending democracy,” Trump has proven unpredictable by earlier threatening to pull out of NATO altogether.
Vance was more supportive of staying in NATO, but he also described Ukraine ceding territory to Russia. “America’s Best Interests.”
If this happens, says Wolff, who is currently a senior fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank, “making big concessions to Putin will only embolden neo-imperial Russia to become more aggressive, including against NATO countries.”