Vice President JD Vance has addressed public criticism from his cousin, Nate Vance, a former volunteer fighter in Ukraine.
Nate recently accused both JD Vance and former President Donald Trump of being Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “useful idiots,” alleging they are pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while being unwilling to stand up to Putin.
“I love my cousin Nate, and I never spoke publicly about his service in Ukraine because I didn’t want to put him in any more danger than he was already in,” JD Vance said in a statement reported by The Daily Beast.
The vice president refrained from engaging in a public debate with his cousin but did push back on one claim—that Nate had unsuccessfully tried to contact him. “He could have reached out to my mother, father, or sister, who I speak with regularly,” JD Vance said. Despite the public fallout, he added, “I always considered Nate the toughest guy I knew, and no matter what he says about me, my affection for him remains. I’m always happy to talk to him.”
A Rift Over Ukraine
Nate Vance spent three years fighting on the front lines in Ukraine against Russia, serving with the Da Vinci Wolves First Motorized Battalion from 2022 until January 2025. He returned to the U.S. just before his cousin was sworn in as vice president, saying he could no longer risk being captured by Russian forces.
In an interview with The Independent, Nate accused JD Vance and Trump of targeting Zelensky because they see Ukraine as easier to pressure than Russia. “They made a campaign promise to end the war quickly, and when they looked at ‘who can we bully into stopping,’ they saw that Ukraine was in a position of weakness,” he said. “It was a simple calculation: ‘We can’t push Putin around, so we’ll push Zelensky around.’”
Nate Vance also described the recent Oval Office meeting between Trump, JD Vance, and Zelensky as an “ambush of absolute dishonesty.” During the meeting, JD Vance openly criticized Zelensky, calling him ungrateful for U.S. military aid. In a follow-up interview with Le Figaro, Nate stated that he had attempted to reach out to his cousin through official channels but received no response.
“I don’t know if JD even got my message,” Nate told CNN. “But regardless, he knew I was there. He never tried to reach out, and there were ways he could have.”
Despite their differences, Nate acknowledged that his cousin is intelligent and “a good guy” but accused him of playing politics with U.S. aid to Ukraine. “When he criticized aid, I assumed it was just about appealing to a certain electorate, that it was the game of politics,” he told Le Figaro. “But what they did to Zelensky was an ambush of absolute bad faith.”
“Putin’s Useful Idiots”
Nate Vance did not hold back in his condemnation of his cousin’s stance, stating that JD Vance and Trump are “clearly trying to placate Putin” while underestimating how Russia views U.S. support for Ukraine. “The Russians aren’t going to forget our support for Ukraine. We are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots,” he said.
Reflecting on the Oval Office confrontation, Nate expressed his disappointment. “When JD justified his distrust of Zelensky by citing ‘reports’ he had seen, I thought I was going to choke,” he said. “His own cousin was on the front lines. I could have told him the truth, without pretense, without personal interest. But he never tried to find out more.”
In an interview with the BBC, Nate emphasized that his critique was not about party politics. “I see myself as pretty Republican,” he said, adding that he believed there should be “a certain level of decorum” in diplomatic relations.
Ukraine Accepts U.S. Ceasefire Proposal
Amid these tensions, Ukraine has agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire—contingent on Russian approval. The deal, revealed in a joint statement from the U.S. and Ukrainian governments, emerged after eight hours of negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Zelensky announced the agreement on X, stating, “A 30-day full interim ceasefire—stopping missile, drone, and bomb attacks—not just in the Black Sea, but along the entire front line. Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal—we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same.”
With the ceasefire’s fate now in Russia’s hands, the debate over U.S. involvement in Ukraine—and the growing divide between the Vance cousins—remains far from over.
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