JD Vance says Europe has not made sufficient efforts to end war in Ukraine
According to The Guardian, Vance made these remarks while in Budapest on April 8, as reported by Ukrinform.
Commenting on the war in Ukraine, Vance said that the U.S. is "disappointed by a lot of the political leadership in Europe," who, he claimed, "do not seem particularly interested in solving this particular conflict."
He added that only some leaders have been "helpful," specifically mentioning Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and "some of the western European capitals, … at least behind the scenes." At the same time, he noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán "is the one who has encouraged us to truly understand this."
He says the work will go on, but Ukraine and Russia need to decide to move, too. He appeared to suggest that Kyiv may need to consider territorial concessions, the publication notes.
"What I would say to both the Russians and the Ukrainians is, you know, we're talking about haggling at this point over a few square kilometres of territory in one direction or another. Is that worth losing hundreds of thousands of additional Russian and Ukrainian young men? Is that worth an additional months or even years of higher energy prices and economic devastation? We think the answer is clearly no. But it takes, you know, two to tango," Vance said.
He added that Orbán and Donald Trump will continue working toward a peaceful settlement, but emphasized that essentially, "we can only open the door. The Russians and the Ukrainians have to walk through it."
As Ukrinform previously reported, Vance also expressed support for Viktor Orbán ahead of key elections in Hungary and sharply criticized Brussels for alleged interference in the campaign.
