Vice President JD Vance said he was thrilled by the attractive tension between the United States and its close allies at an international conference held in Munich on Friday, from freedom of speech to large-scale migration. He publicly condemned European leaders on many issues leading up to migration.
The Vice President animated many people with American rights using the podium at high-level security rally, which focused on the Ukrainian invasion and the threats Russia poses to Europe and elsewhere.
“The threat I’m most concerned about Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s not an outside actor,” he said at a security conference in Munich. “What I’m worried about is the threat from within. Some of its most fundamental values, the European setback from values shared with the United States.”
He added: But what seemed a little unclear to me… what exactly is protecting yourself? ”
The Vice President’s comments were filled with only icy receptions and scattered applause. And he moans when American democracy jokes, “If you can survive a decade of Greta Samberg scribbles, you can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” Ta.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius denounced Vance’s remarks during a session at a meeting later that day, and in German, the US vice president said, “comparing with the state of Europe and the state of some self-authoritarians.” The system stated that “I did it” and “I can’t accept it.” ”
“This is unacceptable,” Pistorius said. “This is not Europe, it’s not the democracy where I live and I run a campaign now. And this is not the democracy that I witness every day in our parliament. In democracy, all opinions are There’s a voice.”
“I was in the Munich room for VP Vance’s speech,” said Senator Andy Kim, DN.J. I wrote in X’s post. A threat from within. ” His speech is about to wrap around our enemies, who we consider as a green light to act while America is distracted/divided. ”
Meeting with Zelenskyy
A rift between the US and Europe was growing after President Donald Trump was accused of removing Kiev and the continent from peace talks to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
Later that day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. envoy for Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg, was part of a US delegation who met in person with President Voldimir Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, and was part of a two-state delegation. We held a meeting at the other meeting. meeting.
“The goal is that, as President Trump outlined it, we hope to end the war,” Vance told reporters who were temporarily brought to their rooms after the meeting began. He spoke. It’s a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that Eastern Europe will fall into conflict in a few years. ”
Zelensky thanked the US and Trump for supporting Ukraine, saying he would work on a plan to “stop Putin and end the war.”
Before becoming Vice President, Vance had reported in recent years that he was not a fan of providing support to Ukraine. After Russia invaded the country in February 2022, Vance said on a podcast that he “don’t really care what will happen in Ukraine.” In the Senate, he expressed his opposition to the Ukrainian aid package offered under Congress and Biden.
Throughout the event in Munich, European leaders appeared to intensify their criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of peace efforts.
“The new American administration has a very different worldview than us who don’t consider established rules, partnerships and trust growth,” German President Frank Walter Steinmeier met on Friday. And he spoke before Vance’s comment.
“We have to accept that. We can deal with it. But I am sure it is not in the interest of the international community that this worldview will become the dominant paradigm.” .
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the world has reached a “home of history.” “A great challenge is looming,” she said, calling on the international community to take responsibility for proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin has proven.” “We’ll destroy Ukraine.”
Alerts have been occurring across Europe after Trump described him as a “long, very productive” conversation with Putin about ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump was accused of shutting down Kiev and Europe from peace talks, and his comments about Ukraine’s future sparked fear and rage across the country and across Europe.
Speaking at a security meeting on Friday, Zelensky said he spoke with Trump and warned him not to believe Putin when he told the US president he wanted to be part of the peace process.
“I told him he was a liar,” Zelensky told Trump about Putin, adding that he urged the US president to increase pressure on Putin, saying, “I don’t trust him.” .
Zelenskyy said it is important that decisions on Ukraine are not made without Ukraine. He also said in his first call with Joe Biden that the then president said Ukraine could not join NATO. The US “has never seen us on NATO,” Zelenskyy told attendees. “They just talked about it, but they really didn’t want us at NATO.”
Friday’s security meeting was a concern about what Moscow would do if he was handed a victory in Ukraine, particularly amid Trump’s proposal to not protect his NATO allies if the US attacks his NATO allies. This is accompanied by an increase in the number of people.
Last year, NATO members showed Ukraine was on a “irreversible path” to the alliance’s final membership. But Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegses show that Ukraine, which is regaining NATO membership and Ukraine’s lost territory, is effectively off the table.
On Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker asked about comments that Hegus said he “made a rookie mistake” by saying that Ukraine’s return to the pre-2014 border was “unrealistic.” Trump said he was “general aware” of what Hegses said.
Trump was asked if he blamed Ukraine and Russia on the war.
“I think there were a lot of people – there’s a lot of responsibility. All I can say is if I was president, then a war would never have happened,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. Ta. “You’re not fighting Russia or Ukraine.”
Previously, Vance offered European allies peace of mind in an interview with the Wall Street Journal and refused to agree to a deal that would guarantee Ukraine’s long-term independence, Russia would face more sanctions and military action. They may have warned that even one could face it.
“There’s an economic tool for leverage. Of course, there’s a military leverage tool,” Vance told the newspaper, explaining the pressure the US could apply. “There are many formulations of the composition, but we are interested in the sovereign independence of Ukraine.”
Vance did not expand these comments into his address to his security meeting on Friday. Later in a post on X, he said the news outlet had “twisted” his words, and Trump “is the ultimate trading maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine.” He said.
“As we have always said, the US military should never do any harm to prevent it from moving forward with American interests or security,” he wrote. “This war lies between Russia and Ukraine.”
“The fact that WSJ twisted my words the way they did for this story is ridiculous, but to make sure that more American sons and daughters are unnecessarily deployed abroad. It’s not surprising given the years of pushing,” he said in another post.
German Foreign Officer Annarena Bearbok on Friday condemned a plan for peace negotiations that would not involve Ukrainians and Europeans.
“False peace on the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans will never get anything,” Bearbock said in a statement when the security conference began. “Fake peace will not provide lasting security for the people of Ukrainians or for us in Europe or America,” she said.
Baerbock called for a meeting between us and our international partners to be held at the Munich Conference. This is an annual meeting of not only diplomats but political and military leaders.
