OXON HILL, Md.—Vice President JD Vance said he expects President Donald Trump could soon help Russia and Ukraine cement a lasting peace.
He made the comments during a conversation with political commentator Mercedes Schlapp at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Feb. 20. Schlapp is the host of “CPAC Now: America Uncanceled” and the wife of Matt Schlapp, who runs the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC.
“I really believe we’re on the cusp of peace in Europe for the first time in three years because we have leadership from the Oval Office that we haven’t had in four years,” Vance told Schlapp.
He said Trump was aiming for something more than a temporary cease-fire in the conflict, which began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine amid escalating tensions over Ukraine’s possible membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Peace is in the interest of Russia. It’s in the interest of Ukraine. It’s in the interest of Europe. But most importantly, peace is in the interest of the American people,” the vice president said.
He predicted that Trump would leave an anti-war legacy.
“Wherever war breaks out, he’s going to be the president of peace,” Vance said.
Vance delivered remarks at last year’s national CPAC, too. During that February 2024 speech, the future vice president questioned U.S. aid to Ukraine, saying the United States had depleted its stock of weapons because of the conflict, potentially jeopardizing its ability to respond to other global threats.
“What happens, God forbid, if the Chinese invade Taiwan?” Vance asked.
The Trump administration is seeking to negotiate a peace deal with Russia, now three years into its conflict with Ukraine.
Trump spoke over the phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 12. On Feb. 18, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia.
The president told reporters on Air Force One on Feb. 19 that “we can make a deal with Russia to stop the killing.”
Trump has also made critical comments about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he “has done a terrible job” and that “his country is shattered.”
He also described the leader as a “dictator without elections.”
Zelenskyy, in late 2023, ruled out holding a scheduled presidential election the following year.
“Now, in wartime, when there are so many challenges, it is absolutely irresponsible to throw the topic of elections into society in a lighthearted and playful way,” the former comedian said.
The country has been under martial law since Russia’s 2022 invasion. The Ukrainian Constitution states that, under martial law, “specific restrictions on rights and freedoms may be established with the indication of the period of effectiveness of these restrictions.”
Zelenskyy has responded to Trump’s comments, saying the president is in a “disinformation space” created by Russia.
At CPAC, Vance’s talk of European affairs didn’t stop at Ukraine.
A reference to the vice president’s recent speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he took European leaders to task over censorship laws and suppression of political populists, drew a standing ovation from many attendees.
“I’ll take a standing ovation for a speech I already gave,” Vance said, before echoing the comments he made in Germany.
He described mass migration into the West as “the biggest threat to Europe.”
“You’ve got to stop doing things to the populations of the world. You’ve got to give the populations of the world the opportunity to speak up and say, ‘No more of this B.S. We want borders. We want sovereignty. We want to be able to speak our own mind in our own country,” Vance said.
British lawmaker Nigel Farage, Hungarian National Assembly member Balázs Orbán, and the prime minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, are among the European politicians expected to speak during the four-day event.
Conservative politicians from Israel, Australia, Italy, South Korea, and other countries are also slated to appear at the high-profile conservative event, which was first held in 1974.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and a member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, will also be among the speakers.