JD Vance slams 'absurdly dishonest' claim he bashed European allies while defending Trump's Ukraine aid pause

Vice President J.D. Vance said it was wrong to assume that he was snubbing European allies during his interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday.

Vance defended his stance that if the U.S. were to completely stop supporting Ukraine financially and militarily in its war with Russia, then other European nations would fail to step up to the plate to fill the large void.

He also insisted that some of these nations are not prepared to send in thousands of troops after not facing real war for decades.

Hannity's interview with the vice president was pre-taped, and news broke just before it aired that President Donald Trump was pausing all military aid to Ukraine.

A U.K. correspondent for an Italian newspaper posted to X claiming that Vance's comments on Monday evening are 'bad news' for the leaders of Britain and France.

But Vance asserted he did not make any reference about those two countries in his interview.

He did, however, say in the sit-down with Hannity that Trump is the only hope for Ukraine and that their President Volodymyr Zelensky should come back to the table to make a deal to secure continued U.S. support.

If Europe wants 'security guarantees' for Ukraine, Vance says, they need to help ensure the U.S. has 'economic upsides' and 'long term interest' in the future of the country. 

And Vance alleges that some European nations might not be earnest in their willingness to support Ukraine's war efforts.

'Here's the problem with the Europeans – and a lot of these guys are our friends, they're our allies… the president has a great relationship with a lot of European heads of state, and so do I, but they need to be realistic,' Vance insisted to Hannity.

He revealed: 'Sometimes you'll have European heads of state who may pop up their chest and say, 'we're in it with President Zelensky for the next 10 years.' And then in private, they'll pick up the phone and say, 'This can't go on forever. He has to come to [the] negotiating table.'

'So I honestly don't care what the Europeans say in public,' the vice president continued. 'What I care is what they say in private. And what they need to be saying to President Zelensky is 'this can't go on forever.' The bloodshed, the killing, the economic devastation. It's making everyone worse off.'

'The only pathway to… peace and prosperity is what the President is trying to accomplish,' Vance concluded.

But European allies have insisted they will fill the void left by the U.S. after it paused aid on Monday night.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: 'This is Europe's moment and we must live up to it.'

'There's a lot we can do in this domain in the short term to direct more funds to defense related investments,' she insisted.

Vance told Hannity: 'If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.'

'That has a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years,' he added. 'The security guarantee, and also the economic guarantee for Ukraine is to rebuild the country, and ensure that America has a long term interest.'

'You're not going to do that if you come to the oval office, insult the president and refuse to follow his plan for peace,' he concluded.