Vance calls Russia an American adversary, but will not call Moscow an enemy

WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance says Russia is an adversary of the United States, but believes it is counterproductive to treat Moscow as an enemy.

The Ohio senator also said Donald Trump is committed to NATO, the transatlantic military alliance seen as a bulwark against further Russian aggression in Europe, although the former president vowed to “complete the process we began under my administration to fundamentally reassess NATO and NATO’s goals.” . mission”.

Vance, in a series of television interviews aired Sunday, nine days before the election, made clear that Trump, if returned to the White House, would pressure European members to spend more on defense and that his administration would work to quickly curtail Moscow’s policies. war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to cross the border.

“We’re not at war with him, and I don’t want to be at war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Vance said when asked during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about whether Russia is the enemy. Vance said that “we have to be careful with the language we use in international diplomacy. We can obviously recognize that we have adversarial interests with Russia.”

US officials confirmed last week that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training ahead of their possible deployment to Ukraine. US officials say Russia has stepped up a disinformation campaign aimed at sowing distrust in the results of the November 5 US election.

Officials on Friday confirmed Moscow’s role in creating a video that appears to show the destruction of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, the latest effort linked to Russia to spread false information on social media.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris argues that Trump is too friendly with Putin and that Trump’s return to the White House would be disastrous for Ukraine and America’s European allies.

Vance was cautious about supporting further sanctions against Russia, saying the Biden administration’s use of the tool to push Russia into Ukraine was as effective as a “wet squib.”

“I don’t think we should overreact to anything. What we should do is urge our fellow Americans to be careful,” Vance said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Don’t trust everything you see on social media. And, of course, we must resist where necessary. But the big question is: what is the appropriate response to a country making videos on social media? I’m not going to commit myself to that by sitting here.”

Trump boasted that he had an effective relationship with Putin while Trump was in office. The former president praised the Russian leader, proposed cutting American spending on Ukraine and repeatedly criticized NATO.

The former president said he would not defend NATO members who have failed to meet defense spending targets and warned that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” with alliance countries he considers “delinquents.” “

Vance stressed that the Trump administration will continue to support NATO, but will rely on Europe to increase defense spending.

In June, NATO announced that a record 23 of 32 member countries had met the alliance’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP this year. This is almost four times more than in 2021, when only six countries achieved this goal.

“Of course we are going to honor our NATO commitments,” Vance said. “But I think it’s important… that we recognize that NATO is not just a social client. This must be a real union.”

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican Trump critic who has endorsed Harris, said Trump’s approach to Putin showed a “complete lack of understanding of the importance of our allies in maintaining peace.”

Trump “talks about our allies as if he were a mob boss,” Cheney said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He doesn’t seem to understand at all that in order to keep the peace, we need to have allies with us.”

In extensive interviews, including with CNN, Vance also downplayed Trump’s recent comments about eliminating the federal income tax.

Trump said in an appearance on Fox News last week that “there is a way, if what I’m planning comes out,” to end this. He told podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday that he was serious about replacing revenue with an income tax by raising tariffs.

Trump has also promised to eliminate taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay if elected.

“He’s talking excitedly about something that he doesn’t think is as important as cutting tip taxes,” Vance said of Trump’s call to eliminate the federal income tax.

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