JD Vance Hits Back at Zelensky After Ukraine Leader Calls Him ‘Too Radical’

JD Vance said he does not appreciate Volodymyr Zelensky “telling the American taxpayer what they oughta do” in response to the Ukrainian president calling him “too radical.”
Zelensky criticized Donald Trump’s running mate in an interview with The New Yorker that was released this past Sunday, in which he spoke out against Vance’s idea to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
During an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast on September 11, Vance said, “Ukraine retains its independent sovereignty, Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine—it doesn’t join NATO, it doesn’t join some of these allied institutions. That is what the deal is ultimately going to look something like.”
On a visit to the U.S. last week, Zelensky hit back, saying: “The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable.”
He went on: “Let Mr. Vance read up on the history of the Second World War, when a country was forced to give part of its territory to one particular person. What did that man do? Was he appeased or did he deal a devastating blow to the continent of Europe—to many nations, broadly, and to the Jewish nation in particular? Let him do some reading.”
Vance was asked by a reporter to respond to this at a campaign event in Traverse City, Michigan, on Wednesday.
The Ohio senator stressed that the idea he laid out on the podcast was “not a plan” but “one possible scenario.”
Vance then went on: “But look, I don’t appreciate Zelensky coming to this country and telling the American taxpayer what they oughta do. He oughta say thank you to the American taxpayer.”
In his Traverse City speech, the Republican vice presidential nominee said Trump is going to end the war in Ukraine “by not being weak and not being dumb, which is unfortunately not something you can say for the current administration.”
He went on: “Russia didn’t invade a single one of their neighbors for the four years that Donald Trump was president. And [under] the president before him and the president after him, somehow, Russia keeps on invading their neighbors. It’s because they don’t respect American leadership and because our leaders aren’t smart.
“So what Donald Trump brings back is not just strength but intelligence to the Oval Office, and I think that’s really all you need to end this war because, look, it’s not in America’s interest, it’s not in Ukraine’s interest, it’s not in Europe’s interest for this war to go on indefinitely,” Vance said.
Newsweek has contacted Biden’s team and the Harris campaign, via email, for a response to this statement. It has also contacted Vance’s team for any further comment.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, has claimed on multiple occasions that he would have ended the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours” if he had won the 2020 election.
He has also said repeatedly that if reelected he would swiftly bring an end to the war in Ukraine by speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin.