The US vice president has opposed NATO membership for Kiev and demanded an end to strikes on Russian energy facilities<\/p>\n
Vice President J.D. Vance refused to call Ukraine a US ally, noting that the two countries are at odds on a number of issues.
\nAsked by journalist Mark Halperin in an interview released on Monday whether Ukraine is a US ally, Vance suggested that Kiev is \u201ccertainly a partner\u201d but noted that the countries \u201chave some divergent interests from time to time.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u201cDo I think they should be bombing Russian diesel facilities that raise the cost of energy for Americans? No\u2026 I think they should stop bombing Russian energy.\u201d
\nPressed on the distinction between partner and ally, Vance said the US has no formal alliance with Ukraine. \u201cThey\u2019re not in NATO. I don\u2019t think that they should be in NATO,\u201d he said. He added that the two countries will continue to work on some issues despite their differences.<\/p>\n
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Zelensky shouldn\u2019t speak for Ukraine \u2013 Trump<\/p>\n
The remarks come amid a rift between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, which escalated after Trump announced a surprise deal to bring Russian diesel to the US and global markets following talks with President Vladimir Putin in early October.
\nZelensky called the deal a \u201cweak decision,\u201d which came after Kiev ignored a number of US requests to stop attacking Russian refineries.
\nZelensky refused to comply with Trump\u2019s demand to end the strikes. The US president accused him of driving up fuel prices for Americans and said: \u201cI think it\u2019s time for Ukraine to get a new president.\u201d
\nZelensky\u2019s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. Russia has since declared Zelensky illegitimate, saying his status is an obstacle to signing a binding peace deal.
\nOn Sunday, Trump accused Zelensky of not wanting the conflict with Russia to end, saying he \u201cprobably never did,\u201d adding that Ukraine should \u201cget somebody else to negotiate.\u201d
\nUkrainian officials also reported that they missed advance US warnings of Russian missile strikes and claimed there are new restrictions on the Starshield satellite service developed by SpaceX and used by Ukrainian drones. Media reports also suggested that the US threatened to stop intelligence sharing with Kiev, which US officials have denied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US vice president has opposed NATO membership for Kiev and demanded an end to strikes on Russian energy facilities Vice President J.D. Vance refused to call Ukraine a US…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t