US Vice-President Criticized for Comments on International Forces in Ukraine
The US vice-president, JD Vance, has sparked a controversy with his comments about the potential involvement of international forces to police a peace deal in Ukraine.
Vance told Fox News that a US stake in Ukraine’s economy was a “better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”. He seemed to be implying that some countries are not reliable allies.
However, his comments were interpreted by UK opposition politicians as disrespecting British forces. They pointed out that the UK and France have said they would be willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
Vance insisted he did not “even mention” the UK or France, but added that there are countries which do not have battlefield experience or military equipment. He seemed to be questioning the reliability of these countries.
UK politicians disagreed with Vance’s comments. Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said it was “deeply disrespectful” to ignore the service and sacrifice of British forces in Afghanistan. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Vance as “wrong, wrong, wrong”.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Helen Maguire urged the UK’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, to call on Vance to apologise for his comments. She said Vance was erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.