Zelensky calls Vance ‘too radical,’ suggests he study WWII

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a new interview with The New Yorker that Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R), the Republican nominee for vice president, “is too radical.”

“He is too radical,” Zelensky said in the interview, released Sunday, of Vance.

In the interview, Zelensky said Vance’s “message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice.”

“The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable,” the Ukrainian president continued.

Vance has previously raised doubt that the U.S. can continue providing military support to Ukraine, as he has stated the U.S. doesn’t make enough munitions to sustain the level of assistance sent to Kyiv. Vance has also pushed for engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past for “America’s interests.”

“I’ve never once argued that Putin is a kind and friendly person. I’ve argued that he’s a person with distinct interests, and the United States has to respond to that person with distinct interests,” Vance said earlier this year at the Munich Security Conference.

“But the fact that he’s a bad guy does not mean we can’t engage in basic diplomacy and prioritizing America’s interests. There are a lot of bad guys all over the world, and I’m much more interested in some of the problems in East Asia right now than I am in Europe.”

The Ohio senator has also previously called for Ukraine to give up territory to the Russians so that the current war between the nations can come to a negotiated end.

“Let Mr. Vance read up on the history of the Second World War, when a country was forced to give part of its territory to one particular person,” Zelensky said, according to The New Yorker. “What did that man do? Was he appeased or did he deal a devastating blow to the continent of Europe — to many nations, broadly, and to the Jewish nation in particular? Let him do some reading.”

The Hill has reached out to a spokesperson for Vance for comment.