JD Vance Blasts Zelenskyy’s Accusations as Absurd and Counterproductive

Vice President JD Vance isn’t mincing words when it comes to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s latest outburst on 60 Minutes. After Zelenskyy accused Vance of pushing “Russian narratives” during a tense Oval Office meeting in February, the vice president fired back calling the remarks “absurd” and “not productive.”

In an interview Tuesday with British outlet UnHerd, Vance responded bluntly to Zelenskyy’s claims:

“It’s sort of absurd for Zelenskyy to tell the [American] government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians.”

Let that sink in: the Ukrainian president is lecturing and attacking the very administration that continues to funnel billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars into his war effort, with no accountability, no end in sight, and no clear American interest served.

During Sunday night’s 60 Minutes interview, Zelenskyy suggested that Vance was “justifying Putin’s actions,” claiming there’s no middle ground in war. According to Zelenskyy, Russia is the sole aggressor and Ukraine the helpless victim a narrative that leaves no room for strategic analysis or any plan to end the war without plunging the world deeper into chaos.

But Vance laid out a far more mature, level-headed take on how conflicts are resolved:

“If you want to end the conflict, you have to try to understand where both the Russians and the Ukrainians see their strategic objectives… That doesn’t mean you morally support the Russian cause.”

It’s called realism, something sorely missing from the Biden-era foreign policy playbook. The current administration has already sunk more than $175 billion into Ukraine, while U.S. borders remain wide open and families at home struggle with inflation, crime, and crumbling infrastructure.

Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk echoed the vice president’s remarks in a comment to Fox News Digital:

“Instead of mischaracterizing Vice President Vance's rhetoric, President Zelenskyy should be focused on bringing this conflict to a peaceful conclusion.”

Exactly. While Zelenskyy plays the victim on prime-time American television, he’s failed to articulate any realistic endgame, even as he demands endless U.S. resources. The war has now dragged on for over three years, with no exit strategy just more dead Ukrainians and more reckless escalation from Western leaders.

It’s not as if Vance has ever excused Putin. Back in 2022, while running for Senate, Vance told Fox News:

“You can believe, as I do, that Ukrainians are brave people and that Vladimir Putin is a bad guy, without pushing the United States to the brink of nuclear war.”

That’s the kind of clear-eyed leadership America needs. Not another blank check to a foreign leader who lashes out when U.S. leaders dare to question his strategy.

Zelenskyy should take the hint: Americans are done being guilt-tripped into funding endless war. And if peace is the goal, insulting one of the few adults in the room isn’t the way to get there.

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