Trump’s pick of J.D. Vance as running mate likely to alarm Ukraine and its supporters

The News

After months of speculation, Donald Trump announced Ukraine-skeptic J.D. Vance as his pick for vice president Monday, a move likely to spark concern among Ukrainians and their supporters about the implications if the former president retakes the White House.

Vance has consistently opposed current levels of US military and financial aid for Ukraine, and was last year a key figure in blocking supplemental funding to aid the Eastern European nation’s defense against Russia’s war.

In a New York Times op-ed in April, the Ohio senator said he remains “opposed to virtually any proposal for the United States to continue funding this war,” and previously said it is in America’s best interest “to accept Ukraine is going to have to cede some territory to the Russians.”

SIGNALS

Vance believes US support for Ukraine cannot change war’s trajectory

Vance has argued that US aid cannot turn the tide in Ukraine’s favor, and believes that the current administration’s strategy will only end up with “an unpleasantly familiar result: failure abroad.” He has also repeatedly made the case that weapons currently being sent to Ukraine would be better off going to Taiwan, which also needs air defenses to defend itself from a possible invasion by China. By supporting Ukraine and “subsidizing the Europeans to do nothing,” the US is doubling down on its commitment to Europe, Vance said in May, at a moment when many Republicans believe Washington should be focusing its efforts on deterring Beijing.

‘Red alert for Ukraine,’ say Russia experts

The selection of Vance will likely cement confirm Ukrainian concerns about Trump’s lack of commitment to Kyiv, Russia watchers said. “Red alert for Ukraine in this choice…” The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser wrote, while another Russia expert called the decision “utterly depressing.” Others said Trump’s pick should be a final wake up call for Europe about the possibility of American retrenchment from Europe. “If Europe needed a reminder that it really is on its own and needs to abandon business as usual and urgently focus on its own defense, Trump anointing JD Vance as the future of the Republican Party is it,” The Wall Street Journal’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov wrote on X.

Russian press reacts warmly to VP with ‘radical’ ideas

Russian media reacted warmly to Vance’s selection, highlighting both his young age for an American politician and his views on the war in Ukraine. The Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda stressed that Vance held “radical” ideas for an American, noting that he had called Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington in December “a shameful farce,” and reported his view that it is unrealistic for Ukraine to win back its entire territory. Meanwhile, Russian news outlet Readovka wrote that Ukrainians are “in mourning” about the selection, and said that “Kyiv risks losing a significant part of its support.” Even so, Maxim Zharov, a pro-Kremlin political scientist, voiced a note of caution to his Russian followers, stressing that “the elections in America are still very, very far away.”