 "US VP JD Vance. Source: Reuters")
After an unpleasant reception in Vermont , US Vice President JD Vance said he was confronted by a group of pro-Ukrainian protesters while walking with his 3-year-old daughter on Saturday. The Vice President wrote about this incident and said that he encountered “Slava Ukraini” protesters who followed him around and were shouting as his daughter got “increasingly anxious and scared.”
“I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. (Nearly all of them agreed.),” Vance wrote in a post on X. He noted that it was “mostly respectful conversation, but if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a s— person.”
The encounter occurred near Vance’s home in East Walnut Hills, a neighbourhood in Cincinnati. According to The Hill, there were somewhere between 30 and 40 protesters , who were mostly showing signs in support of the war-torn Eastern European country. Vance did not share exactly what he told the demonstrator.
One clash that made Vance the ‘villain’
It is important to note that the vice president was part of last month’s heated meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The public spat in the White House escalated after Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be trusted to reach a ceasefire agreement.
During the meeting, the Ukrainian leader pointed out how Putin backtracked on several previous ceasefire talks. Vance and Trump eventually lashed out at Zelenskyy, saying that he ‘wasn’t thankful’ for America’s support. The POTUS went on to accuse Zelenskyy of “ gambling the World War Three .”
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More Shorts“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country,” Trump said. Following the meeting, Zelenskyy made it clear that he would not apologise for the incident, but days later, he backtracked and said it was a “regrettable” huddle.
Amidst all this, Washington has already paused aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing after the late February meeting. Last weekend, Vance faced pro-Ukraine protestors during his trip to Vermont, with some calling on him to ski in Russia “because JD Vance has no friends in Vermont.”