JD Vance’s cousin says vice-president and Trump are ‘useful idiots’ to Putin

After voluntarily fighting in Ukraine to defend it from Russia’s invasion, and as the White House halts Ukrainian military aid, JD Vance’s first cousin has called the vice-president and Donald Trump “useful idiots” to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Nate Vance’s comments to France’s Le Figaro newspaper came after he reportedly spent three years volunteering to try to help Ukraine repel Russian troops as part of the so-called Da Vinci Wolves battalion.

The remarks also amounted to a notable reaction to the disastrous televised meeting of Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, in the Oval Office on 28 February that left an economic rare earth minerals deal between Ukraine and the US unsigned. During that confrontation, Vance accused Zelenskyy of leading “propaganda tours” of the destruction resulting from Russia’s invasion – and of being ungrateful for US aid to Ukraine after it was first invaded by Putin’s troops while Joe Biden was in the White House in February 2022.

“Donald Trump and my cousin clearly believe they can placate Vladimir Putin,” Nate Vance said to Le Figaro, as translated by Google. Invoking a moniker historically often applied to people who are taken advantage of by ruthless political leaders, Nate Vance continued: “They are wrong. The Russians are not about to forget our support for Ukraine. We are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots.”

Nate Vance also contended that the diplomatic breakdown – which occurred after Zelenskyy sought to attach US security guarantees to the minerals pact – was “an ambush of absolute bad faith”.

“When he criticized aid to Ukraine, I told myself that it was because he had to please a certain electorate, that it was a game of politics,” Nate Vance said.

Nate Vance specifically took aim at JD Vance’s remarks to Zelenskyy that Vance had “watched and seen … stories” justifying his distrust of Ukraine and its president.

“I thought I was going to choke,” Nate Vance reportedly added. “His own cousin was on the frontlines. I could have told him the truth, without personal interest. He never tried to find out more.”

He said he subsequently left messages for the vice-president at his office, but none had been returned. He said he did not want to risk being captured after Trump won a second presidency in November with JD Vance – who was previously one of Ohio’s US senators – as his running mate. So he returned to the US in January, shortly before Vance took office as Trump’s vice-president.

Nate Vance’s father is the brother of JD Vance’s mother. He described having previously vacationed with the vice-president. The cousins each also previously served the US marines.

Saudi Arabia is scheduled to host diplomatic talks on Tuesday between the US and Ukraine after the former cut off the latter from military assistance and intelligence-sharing in the wake of the argument in the Oval Office.

Trump on Sunday said he anticipated good results from the talks and would consider ending the suspension of intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.