cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2138283
Nate Vance, the cousin of U.S. Vice President JD Vance and a volunteer fighting on Ukraine’s front lines, said he is “disappointed” in his relative’s stance on Ukraine.
Vance, a former U.S. Marine, defended Ukraine from 2022 to January 2025 as a member of the Da Vinci WolvesFirst Motorized Battalion, a volunteer unit.
“Being your family doesn’t mean I’m going to accept you killing my comrades,” Vance saidin an interview with Le Figaro published on March 9.
Vance’s remarks come at a low point in U.S.-Ukrainian relations, as Washington has halted intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv. The freeze followed a contentious meeting in the Oval Office between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Vance, and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nate Vance said he was disappointed in how his cousin treated Zelensky during the meeting.
“When (JD Vance) criticized aid to Ukraine, I thought it was because he needed to appeal to his electorate, that it was part of the political game,” Vance said.
“But what they did to Zelensky was an ambush of absolute dishonesty.”
The vice president’s continued distrust of Zelensky is unjustified, as are his views on Ukraine, Vance said.
“I thought I was going to choke … His own cousin was on the front lines. I could have told him the truth, without pretense, without personal interest. He never tried to find out more.”
Vance said he tried to get in touch with his cousin several times with no success.
“I left messages at his office. I never heard from him,” he said.
Vance volunteered to fight in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, but left shortly before the U.S. presidential inauguration out of fear of being captured by the Russian army.
“It had become complicated to stay. I couldn’t take the risk of being captured,” he said.
JD Vance has criticized Ukraine and Zelensky in the past, at times repeating Kremlin talking points.
[…]
He also said they are Putin’s useful idiots.
“Donald Trump and my cousin clearly believe they can placate Vladimir Putin,” Nate Vance said to Le Figaro, as translated by Google. Invoking a moniker historically often applied to people who are taken advantage of by ruthless political leaders, Nate Vance continued: “They are wrong. The Russians are not about to forget our support for Ukraine. We are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots.”
Meanwhile, as Russian attacks on Ukraine killed dozens over the weekend and destroyed Ukrainian energy infrastructure after the U.S. pulled much of its support from Kyiv, Trump defended Putin’s ramped-up attacks on Friday, as per Democracy Now:
President Donald Trump: “I actually think he [Putin] is doing what anybody else would do. I think he’s — I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he’s hitting them harder than — than he’s been hitting them. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.
President Donald Trump: “I actually think he [Putin] is doing what anybody else would do. I think he’s — I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he’s hitting them harder than — than he’s been hitting them. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.
Yeah no shit, who woulda thunk an aggressor would use its victims momentary weakness for their advantage? The issue is that you put them in a position where that was possible you buffoon…
Better exchange JD Rat Vance, for * The Other Vance* [ Nate] as VP.
Is this important news for Europe? What did his niece’s uncle say?
Is this important news for Europe?
Have a think.
To be honest, I am not sure what to think about the such primarily-US-focused news here either and I would love to know what people think.
Trump and Vance’s behaviour sure. Cousin Vance’s opinion on it, not really?
Vance’s cousin fought in Ukraine, and he is openly criticizing the VP and the U.S. administration for its Ukraine stance. This is highly relevant for Ukraine and Europe.
