Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance's plan to end the war in Ukraine and described it as an "awful idea" during an interview with The New Yorker.
Zelensky visited the U.S. last week to speak to officials about his "Victory Plan" to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and though he did not release details of the plan to the press, he gained the support of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Vance has been pushing his plan to end the war, which would consist of pushing peace talks and creating a "heavily fortified" demilitarized zone between the two countries.
Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Vance and the Trump campaign for comment via email outside of business hours.
During an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast on September 11h, Vance detailed his plan for Ukraine and said, "Ukraine retains its independent sovereignty, Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine—it doesn't join NATO, it doesn't join some of these allied institutions. That is what the deal is ultimately going to look something like."
Vance's plan received significant backlash, with his critics comparing his plan to Russian President Vladimir Putin's peace terms put forward in February.
The Ukrainian president told The New Yorker that he believes Vance is "too radical" and has come out "with a more precise plan to give up our territories."
"His message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice. This brings us back to the question of the cost and who shoulders it. The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine's expense is unacceptable," Zelensky said.
He went on to say Vance's mission with his version of the plan to end the war is merely "sloganeering," and he had not experienced this with Trump, who expressed support for Ukraine during a phone call.
The Ukrainian president also emphasized the larger implications of a plan like Vance's, involving sacrificing territories, and said that if it were carried out, it would signal a start to "pawning American interests elsewhere" and potentially starting a world war hinged on the idea of conquering territory.
He then encouraged Vance to read about World War II, and compared Hitler's mission to conquer territory in Europe to what would take place if Ukraine were to give up territory according to the vice-presidential candidate's plan.
Zelensky told the outlet that his victory plan consists of "a number of elements related to Ukraine's long-term security and geopolitical position."
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