‘Nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine’: EU leaders throw shade on JD Vance and make him eat his words

Politically speaking, this year’s Valentine’s Day wasn’t filled with expressions of love and solidarity from the United States. Instead, this Feb. 14 saw Vice President JD Vance’s admonish the 61^st Munich Security Conference. It was truly historical, if only in the sheer weight of its heavy irony and layered hypocrisy.

With a tone suffused with theatrical self-righteousness, Vance lectured European leaders and their government for failing to act with democratic integrity – offering the example of the 2024 Romanian election and the attempt to prevent far-right ultranationalists from attaining power – claiming that, “for years,” the US was under the impression that “everything we fund and support was in the name of our shared democratic values.” Of course, over the last 100 years, one finds no shortage of examples wherein the US threw money at, or sent troops and arms – or used other means like secret intelligence – to help foreign nations for the purely altruistic and philanthropic sake of upholding democracy abroad.

People who can unravel the sarcasm in the above sentence, would not find it surprising that while Vance preached about free speech and warned Europe of its “threat from within;” Pete Hegseth unequivocally suggested only Ukraine – and not Russia – would be making concessions to end the war; Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg indicated that European nations would not get a seat at the table during negotiations; and Trump – saying the quiet part out loud – demanded half a trillion dollars of Ukraine’s natural resources (per The Telegraph) to which Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, respectfully, “no.” Although Trump and his underlings keep boasting about all the money the US has spent on Ukraine throughout this conflict, European countries, collectively, have offered the heftiest financial aid to the war-torn country.

Although some – like Kellog – had claimed otherwise, talks between the US and Russia about setting conditions to end the war were hosted in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Feb. 18, without an invitation being sent to Zelenskyy or any Ukrainian representative, much less was a thought given to adding the EU’s presence.

Therefore, European leaders, motivated by far more than the prospect of acquiring enough resources to compete with China in an ongoing and frenzied technological race, scrambled to assemble faster than the Avengers.

In a ‘turbulent world’ we ‘work together and strengthen our ties

After JD Vance’s outrageous speech, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius came on stage to say his part. However, differently than originally intended, he started by describing the VP’s comments as unacceptable, prompting a roar of applause to erupt in the room. If there is one thing that will unite European nations and leaders – who have not always been on the same page, and struggle to even now – it is the threat of an arrogant megalomaniac trying to gaslight everyone and throwing his weight around as if he owns this communal stage that is the world.

Before French President Emmanuel Macron organized an emergency meeting in Paris as a reaction to Ukraine and the EU being left out of the Saudi Arabia peace talks, European leaders were already posting outspoken shows of support for Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, many of which also highlighted the now-imminent need for Europe to become more self-sufficient, particularly in terms of its defense.

These social media posts are not just for show. Europe has been putting its money where its mouth is and sending new aid packages to Ukraine. The continent’s virtually unanimous support had President Zelenskyy thanking “Europe [for not having] lost faith in Ukraine or in the prospect of a lasting peace.”

As Dutch PM Dick Schoof put it, “everyone feels a great sense of urgency ” on how best to support Ukraine and the sovereignty the country has fought for while not disregarding the importance of American cooperation. The need for an “urgency mindset” was something emphasized by Ursula von der Leyen, who’s in her second term as European Commission president, and also attended the “crucial talks.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, like other European leaders, has advocated for Ukraine to join the EU, a wish shared by the Ukrainians. According to POLITICO, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, asserted on Tuesday that while Ukraine has a right to join the European Union, the same does not apply to NATO.

Once the emergency assembly was concluded, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez wrote on X:

“The talks for peace in Ukraine represent an opportunity. But they must not lead to a false closure. The goal must be to achieve a just and lasting peace. It must include the active involvement of Ukraine and Europe and must strengthen the multilateral order and international law.”

That same evening, Macron posted about speaking to the Ukrainian and American Presidents after the meeting:

After bringing together several European leaders, I have just spoken with President @realDonaldTrump and then with President @ZelenskyyUa.

We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong…

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 17, 2025

A little over an hour before the French President’s post, Zelenskyy made a few remarks on his conversation with Macron, writing:

“We share a common vision: security guarantees must be robust and reliable. Any other decision without such guarantees—such as a fragile ceasefire—would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations. Emmanuel also briefed me on his talks with other leaders, not just European ones. We agreed to stay in constant contact as major decisions are being made. Ensuring a robust and lasting peace is a must. And that can only be achieved through strong security guarantees.”

There you go, JD. While you refused to say whether Trump “lost the 2020 election” in your Vice Presidential debate, the same leaders you brazenly scolded are uniting to take a stance against tyranny. To be fair, we cannot expect the same law graduate who shamelessly denounced the judicial branch’s constitutionally guaranteed powers to enact its role as part of the US government’s system of checks and balances to be able to tell what acting with democratic integrity looks like.