U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington would be able to wield economic and military leverage in talks with Russia to ensure a good peace deal over Ukraine, but his spokesman later denied he was making any threats against Moscow, Reuters reports.
Vance also urged Europe to spend more on defence in remarks before arriving for the Munich Security Conference, a major annual gathering of political leaders, military officers and diplomats.
In his keynote address to the conference, Vance lambasted the European Union for its regulation of hate speech and misinformation, which he said amounted to censorship.
He only briefly referred to Ukraine, saying he hoped a “reasonable settlement” could be reached.
However, Ukraine, and prospects for peace talks, preoccupied many at the high-profile global gathering after Donald Trump startled U.S. allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and announcing the start of talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Vance, who was due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later on Friday, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal before the conference that Trump could use several tools – economic and military – for leverage with Putin.
