WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an exclusive interview with The National Pulse on Wednesday morning, Vice President J.D. Vance issued a stern warning to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding his public criticisms of President Donald Trump and the administration’s peace initiatives. Vance described Zelensky’s approach as “disgraceful” and counterproductive, emphasizing that such tactics could jeopardize Ukraine’s relationship with its most crucial ally.
“Zelensky is getting really bad advice, and I don’t know from whom,” Vance said. “He’s not dealing with Joe Biden and the Biden administration anymore. He’s dealing with Donald Trump and the Trump administration.”
Vance warned against Zelensky’s public protestations in recent days, stating, “The idea that he’s going to litigate his disagreements with the president in the public square—I mean, you [Raheem] know the President very well, obviously, I know the President very well. This is not a good way to deal with President Trump,” Vance said. “Of course, the Ukrainians are going to have their perspective. The way to surface that is in a private discussion with American diplomats… he’s attacking the only reason this country exists, publicly, right now. And it’s disgraceful. And it’s not something that is going to move the President of the United States. In fact, it’s going to have the opposite effect.”
The Vice President reaffirmed Trump’s policy on Ukraine: the war must end. He further asserted that U.S. policy now requires that Ukraine have elections.
“The president won the election. He won it convincingly. And he’s made clear that American policy is to stop the killing and bring the war to a close,” Vance said. “Now, I talked to the President this morning, actually, and he has an incredible amount of sympathy and admiration for the people of Ukraine. He wants the killing to stop because he doesn’t want innocent Ukrainians to keep losing their lives. So I think he very much thinks about this from the perspective, not just, of course, of his obligations to the United States, but also he just. He wants the brutality and the killing to stop.”
Vance went on, stressing the point: “He has said the goal of administration policy is to end the conflict. So now, you know that has to happen. Right. Zelensky has to take that seriously. Our European allies have to take that seriously. That is the goal of administration policy. You’re not going to move the President away from that goal. You’re not going to change his mind, certainly not by attacking him publicly in the media.”
ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE.
Elections in Ukraine are now U.S. policy, with Vance making it clear that Zelensky must submit to a democratic mandate if he wants continued legitimacy. “Certainly, that would give him the strongest position, Raheem,” Vance said when asked if elections were necessary. “And I think that it’s a little rich for some of our European friends to attack Donald Trump for suggesting that Ukraine should have elections when they say that this is a war for democracy. How can you attack elections when your entire framing for the war in Ukraine is that it’s a war for democracy? I just think it’s ridiculous. And, of course, the United States had a civil war. We had an election in, of course, at the, at the end of as scheduled. You know, Churchill found out that he lost. As I understand it, he found out that he lost the British election at Potsdam.”
Vance, fresh from his European trip, where he lectured European leaders on free speech and matters of conscience, hit them again in our exclusive interview for their hypocrisy on democracy, questioning their insistence on blocking elections.
“The idea that you cannot have elections in the midst of a war is, I think, kind of a preposterous idea. And the President has made very clear that he thinks that should happen. So, you know, that is, that is American policy. And I think it’s. It’s pretty simple and straightforward.”
Martial law currently prohibits elections in Ukraine, with Zelensky having used the conflict with Russia to effectively crush opposition political parties and enrich his inner circle.
The Vice President’s remarks come just after President Trump himself blasted Zelensky as a “dictator” who “better move fast” for his country’s continued existence.