JD Vance has hit back at criticism after saying a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be “20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.
The US vice president was accused of “disrespecting” British forces who served alongside the US in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a former veterans minister branding him a “clown” who needs to “check his privilege”.
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Although the UK and France are the only countries to have pledged troops to a potential peacekeeping force, Mr Vance said the suggestion he was referring to those two allies is “absurdly dishonest”.
“I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,” he said in a post on X.
“There are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful.”
Mr Vance made the initial comments to Fox News on Tuesday, saying the only security guarantee Donald Trump will provide for Ukraine is a minerals deal.
He said: “The president knows that if you want real US security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”
Several British politicians interpreted this as a dig at the UK and France, who have led the idea of a “coalition of the willing” to provide boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, accused Mr Vance of “ignoring the service and sacrifice” of personnel from the two countries that fought in Afghanistan after 9/11.
He said that is the only time NATO’s Article 5 has been invoked, which holds that members of the alliance will come to the defence of an ally under attack.
He added: “Britain and France came to their aid deploying 1,000s of personnel to Afghanistan, including numerous parliamentary colleagues, past & present. It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service & sacrifice.”
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Former Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer called Mr Vance a “clown” who “needs to check his privilege”.
Helen Maguire, the Lib Dem’s defence spokesperson who also served in the army before her career in politics, accused Mr Trump’s deputy of “erasing the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan from history”.
She said: “Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality. Vance has demeaned his office.”
Speaking after Mr Vance clarified his remarks, a Downing Street spokesperson said the US vice president was “talking about other countries” when asked if he should apologise.
They added Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “is full of admiration for British troops who fought alongside the US and others in wars and their courage and bravery”.
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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told GB News “a lot of people are getting carried away”.
“They’re saying loads of things and getting quite animated, let’s keep cool heads,” she said.
“I believe President Trump and JD Vance want peace, they’re looking after their national interest, we need to do so as well.”
It is not the first time Mr Vance has riled the UK, after previously attacking it over free speech and saying the UK is “Islamist under Labour”.
JD Vance seems to save some of his most incendiary comments about other countries for the UK.
Donald Trump’s vice president has regularly caused outrage among MPs, most recently with what many saw as a perceived dig at British troops.
During last year’s presidential election campaign, Mr Vance suggested Labour’s victory here made Britain the “first truly Islamist country” with nuclear weapons.
Recalling a conversation about who might be “the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon”, he said rather than it being somewhere like Iran, he settled on the UK “since Labour just took over”.
Mr Vance also used a landmark speech at the Munich Security Conference to criticise the UK and Europe over free speech, saying there had been a “backslide away from conscience rights” that had put “basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs”.
He doubled down on those remarks during Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week, claiming the government’s stance is something that affects US tech companies and, therefore, American citizens.
Sir Keir interjected, saying “we’ve had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that”.
The row comes after the Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine following an extraordinary showdown between the US President and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The falling out has thrown into jeopardy the prospect of a minerals deal, which would give the US access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals.
Mr Trump has suggested this would deter Russia from invading Ukraine again if a peace deal is struck – but Sir Keir said yesterday that it would not be enough on its own.
The prime minister told MPs on Monday that Britain must “lead from the front” on supporting Ukraine and Europe must “do the heavy lifting to support peace on our continent”.
However, he said “to succeed, this effort must also have strong US backing”.
