WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) 鈥 Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance says Russia is a U.S. adversary but suggests it's counterproductive to approach Moscow as an enemy.
The Ohio senator also said is committed to NATO, the transatlantic military alliance seen as the bulwark preventing further Russian aggression in Europe, although the to 鈥渇inish the process we began under my administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO鈥檚 purpose and NATO鈥檚 mission.鈥
Vance, in a series of television interviews that aired Sunday, nine days before the election, made clear that Trump, if back in the White House, would press European members to spend more on defense and that their administration would work to quickly wind down that began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops across the border.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not in a war with him, and I don鈥檛 want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin鈥檚 Russia,鈥 Vance said when pressed during an interview with NBC's 鈥淢eet the Press鈥 on whether Russia is an enemy. Vance said "we have to be careful about the language that we use in international diplomacy. We can recognize, obviously, that we have adversarial interests with Russia."
U.S. officials this past week confirmed that to Russia for training before potentially being deployed in Ukraine. U.S. officials say Russia has a disinformation campaign aimed at sowing distrust in the results in U.S. election on Nov. 5.
Officials on Friday confirmed Moscow鈥檚 role in creating a that appears to show the destruction of mail ballots in Pennsylvania, in what was the latest effort linked to Russia on spreading false information on social media.
Democratic presidential nominee has argued that Trump is too cozy with Putin and that Trump's return to the White House would be calamitous for Ukraine and America's European allies.
Vance was circumspect about supporting further sanctions against Russia, saying the Biden administration's use of the tool for Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been as effective as a 鈥渨et firecracker.鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that we should overreact to anything. What we should do is encourage our fellow Americans to be careful,鈥 Vance told CBS' 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥 鈥淒on鈥檛 trust everything that you see on social media. And of course, we should push back where appropriate. But that鈥檚 the big question is, what is an appropriate response to a country making social media videos? I鈥檓 not going to make a commitment to that sitting right here.鈥
Trump has boasted of having had an effective relationship with Putin when Trump was in office. The former president the Russian leader, suggested cutting U.S. money for Ukraine and repeatedly
The former president has said he would not defend NATO members that failed to meet defense spending targets, and warned he would 鈥渆ncourage鈥 Russia 鈥渢o do whatever the hell they want鈥 to alliance countries that he considered "delinquent.鈥
Vance underscored that a Trump administration would continue to support NATO but that it would lean on Europe to increase defense spending.
NATO announced in June that a record 23 of the 32 member nations were reaching the alliance鈥檚 defense spending target, 2% of GDP, this year. That's a nearly fourfold increase from 2021, when only six nations were meeting the goal.
鈥淥f course, we鈥檙e going to honor our NATO commitments,鈥 Vance said. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 important ... that we recognize that NATO is not just a welfare client. It should be a real alliance.鈥
Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic of Trump who has endorsed Harris, said Trump鈥檚 approach to Putin demonstrates 鈥渁 total lack of understanding of the importance of our allies in keeping the peace.
Trump 鈥渢alks about our allies as though he were a mafia boss,鈥 Cheney said on CNN鈥檚 State of the Union. 鈥淗e seems to completely fail to understand that, in order to keep peace, we have to have allies with us.鈥
In the wide-ranging interviews, which included with CNN, Vance also played down recent comments by Trump about ending the federal income tax.
Trump said in a Fox News appearance last week 鈥渢here is a way, if what I鈥檓 planning comes out鈥 to do away with it. He told podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday that he was serious about replacing revenue the income tax by raising tariffs.
Trump has pledged to also if elected.
鈥淗e鈥檚 talking aspirationally about something that he himself thinks is less of a focus than cutting taxes on tips,鈥 Vance said of Trump's call to eliminate the federal income tax.
