US Vice President J.D. Vance does not believe Ukraine should join NATO. He said this in an interview with 2WayTonight.
Asked by a journalist whether Ukraine is an ally of the United States, Vance said there is formally no alliance between the two countries. But Ukraine is a partner “to some extent”.
“However, from time to time we have different interests. For example, do I think they should be attacking Russian diesel plants, which raises energy costs for Americans? No. But of course we work with them on some things. But I think they should stop striking Russia’s energy sector,” he said.
Vance added that Ukraine is a respectable and beautiful country that it is possible to work with on certain issues, while also disagreeing with it.
In effect, Vance backed the position of the US president, who in recent weeks has been increasingly aggressively criticising Ukraine for strikes on Russia’s oil refineries. Ukraine has explained that these strikes are needed to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war, and has stressed its readiness to halt attacks if Russia stops destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. But Russia did not stop, even despite the energy truce announced by Trump.
The White House says Ukrainian attacks on the Russians’ oil industry have pushed up diesel prices on the global market. Although numerous energy experts and reputable media outlets have written that the rise in prices was influenced by Iran destroying refineries this year in the Persian Gulf countries. Ukraine began a series of strikes on Russian refineries back in 2024, and this did not have a significant impact on the global market.