‘This is a disaster for Ukraine’, – European politicians reacted to Trump’s choice of his vice president – Politico

The European Union considers the scenario in which Senator J.D. Vance becomes the U.S. Vice President, following a potential victory by Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election, to be “catastrophic” for Ukraine.

This was reported by Politico.

On Monday, July 15, the Republican Party officially nominated Trump as their candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Trump, in turn, announced Senator J.D. Vance from Ohio as his running mate for Vice President.

A high-ranking European official told Politico that Vance as Vice President would be “a disaster for Ukraine.” Europe was already “in panic” over the possibility of Trump being re-elected, but Vance’s selection raised new concerns about the potential new U.S. administration, the publication wrote.

In February 2024, at the Munich Security Conference, Vance stated that the U.S. needs to reconsider its stance on supporting Ukraine and skipped a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation and other senators. Previously, he admitted that he was not concerned about Ukraine’s fate.

“To be honest, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” Vance said in an interview in 2022.

The senator has also criticized Europe’s dependence on the U.S. for defense spending and specifically accused Germany of not meeting NATO’s target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense.

Vance has repeatedly spoken against aiding Kyiv, asserting that Ukraine will ultimately have to make territorial concessions. In December 2023, he and other Republican senators blocked a bill for military assistance to Ukraine and Israel.

“It is in America’s interest to recognize that Ukraine will have to cede some territory to the Russians and that we must end this war. The idea that Ukraine would push Russia back to the 1991 borders was absurd—no one really believed that,” Vance said on CNN.

The U.S. presidential election will take place in November 2024, with the inauguration of the new leader scheduled for January 2025. Experts believe that the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania on July 13 has increased the Republican candidate’s chances of winning.