The US vice-president has sparked a row with comments he made about the potential involvement of international forces to police a peace deal in Ukraine.
UK opposition politicians accused JD Vance of disrespecting British forces, after he told Fox News a US stake in Ukraine’s economy was a “better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.
The UK and France have said they would be willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
Vance has since insisted he did not “even mention the UK or France,” adding both had “fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond”.
However, he did not specify which country or countries he was referring to.
In a post of social media, he added: “But let’s be direct: 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.”
So far only the UK and France have publicly committed troops towards policing any potential peace deal in Ukraine, although Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said a “number of countries” have agreed to commit troops.
Earlier, Vance’s original comments had drawn criticism from UK opposition politicians.
Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge pointed out both the UK and France deployed forces alongside the US in Afghanistan, adding: “It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Vance was “wrong, wrong, wrong”, adding that the UK “stood by America” for 20 years in Afghanistan.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Helen Maguire, a former captain in the Royal Military Police who served in Iraq, urged the UK’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, to call on Vance to apologise for the comments.
“JD Vance is erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said.
“I saw firsthand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.”
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, a former British Army officer who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, said: “The disrespect shown by the new US vice-president to the sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.”
Speaking after Vance posted on social media to defend his comments, Obese-Jecty told BBC Two’s Politics Live programme: “It’s difficult to see who he was talking about, if he wasn’t talking about Britain and France.”
He called on the vice-president to clarify which countries he was referring to, and to apologise, adding that Vance had caused “real offence”.
The UK joined the US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, with France also sending forces to the country.
More than 150,000 British personnel have served in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, with the final troops withdrawing in 2021.
The UK was also part of a US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, with British forces in the country peaking at 46,000.
Vance’s comments came as the US paused military aid to Ukraine, following an explosive spat between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.
Zelensky left the White House before a proposed deal on sharing Ukrainian minerals with American companies could be signed.
Speaking about the proposal, Vance told Fox News: “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.”
Sir Keir has said US security guarantees – such as air cover – will be needed to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine again, if there is a deal to end the war.
However, Trump has so far refused to offer this, instead arguing that US workers in Ukraine as part of a minerals deal could provide such assurances.
This article was originally published at www.bbc.com
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