ANALYSIS – Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, and major opponent of providing aid to Ukraine, was slammed over the weekend for avoiding a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference.
This while also strenuously arguing against any more U.S. military aid to the embattled country.
The suspicious death of imprisoned Putin-opponent Alexei Navalny, announced just as the conference was kicking off on Friday, cast a dark shadow over the proceedings. But the likely murder of Vladimir Putin's opponent didn't seem to change Vance's views.
So, what was Vance's excuse for avoiding Zelensky? Well, the 39-year-old first-time senator reportedly told Punchbowl congressional correspondent Andrew Desiderio he wasn't going to the Zelensky meeting because “he didn't think he would learn anything new.”
That's a crock.
Meditate reported:
Vance's unwillingness to hear out or meet Zelensky, whom he has been highly critical of during wartime, raised eyebrows across the political spectrum.
Fox News [GOP] contributor Marc Thiessen reacted to Desiderio's report, writing, “What a coward. Could not sit down and look Zelensky in the eye.”
Vance shot to fame for his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” He has become a staunch Trump defender, despite previously describing himself as a “never-Trumper.”
Meanwhile, as Politico reported, Vance didn't stop there. Vance also reiterated that he believed the only way to end the war was through a negotiated settlement; one which Vladimir Putin has always ruled out unless Ukraine cedes enormous amounts of its territory to the invaders.
“Any peace settlement is going to require some significant territorial concessions from Ukraine, and you're gonna have a peace deal, because that's the only way out of the conflict,” he said. “We have to deal with reality.”
But how much of that “reality” has been shaped by the equally cowardly decisions of Joe Biden to slow roll vitally needed weapons to Ukraine and hold back on many others?
Would the battlefield situation be different if Biden had sent longer range missiles, M-1 tanks and F-16s much earlier?
I personally think they would have been. Biden has given Ukraine billions, but deliberately just enough to not lose, rather than to win.
Politico continued:
In dozens of closed-door meetings, Ukrainian officials have made the argument that they desperately need more weapons — particularly Taurus cruise missiles and long-range ATACMS missiles — as they try to defeat Vladimir Putin's army.
Ukrainians have proven that we can force Russia to retreat,” Zelenskyy told delegates in a key-note speech Saturday. “We can get our land back, and Putin can lose, and this has already happened more than once on the battlefield.”
Mediaite added:
Former U.S. ambassador to Russia, [Democrat] Michael McFaul, replied, “Senator Vance had a unique opportunity to meet with President Zelenskyy and discuss his ideas for a negotiated settlement. To state the obvious, a settlement has to be negotiated between Ukraine & Russia, not US & Russia. Odd decision not to go to the meeting. Oh well.”
Vance was on firmer ground when he argued that Europe does not do enough to ensure its own defense.
The Hill noted:
“The final point that I'll make just to respond here, because I know people have heard what Trump said, and you know, they've criticized it, and they've said, well, ‘Trump is going to abandon Europe,'” Vance said during his Sunday remarks.
“I don't think that's true at all. I think Trump is actually issuing a wake-up call to say that Europe has to take a bigger role in its own security. Germany just this year will spend more than 2 percent of GDP. That, of course, is something that we had to really push for in the United States, and it just now has finally cleared that threshold.”
This is a very valid point which I have repeatedly made. The U.S. should not abandon Europe, but as Vance said, we should push our allies to “step up” and “take a more aggressive role in its own security.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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