It was part of JD Vance’s first international trip as United States vice president: The former senator from Ohio was taking a tour of Europe, representing the second administration of President Donald Trump on the world stage.
A major point on his itinerary was a speech he would give to the 61st annual Munich Security Conference on February 14, in front of leaders representing some of the US’s closest allies.
But rather than celebrate those historic ties, Vance took a more aggressive approach. Perched at the podium in Munich, he shocked onlookers by criticising Europe, warning against laws and restrictions he said could “destroy democracy”.
It has been nearly three months since Vance delivered that speech, and on Wednesday, the vice president returned to the Munich forum, this time for its leaders’ meeting in Washington, DC.
In a question-and-answer segment with German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, Vance revisited his February speech, which sparked backlash within Europe and at home. He also gave a preview of US negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here are three key takeaways from his remarks.
Mending fences with Europe
Wednesday’s public appearance marked the third time Vance spoke to an event hosted by the Munich Security Conference. But his last speech — with its accusations of democratic backsliding — loomed heavily over the proceedings.
Vance tried to reframe his remarks on Wednesday as respectful criticism between allies, emphasising the warm relations the US and Europe have traditionally shared.
“ I think — I mean this from the heart and as a friend — that there is a trade-off between policing the bounds of democratic speech and debate and losing the trust of our people. And we’re all going to draw the lines a little bit differently,” Vance said. “I’m fine if one country is going to draw those lines a little bit differently than the United States.”
He added that questions of free speech and democratic principles are issues the US is grappling with, too.
“I think all of us, including especially the United States, we have to be careful that we don’t draw the lines in such a way that we actually undermine the very democratic legitimacy upon which all of our civilization rests,” the vice president explained.
“ I think that is fundamentally the point here. It’s not Europe bad, America good.”
Ultimately, he said, Europe and the US are “on the same civilizational team”, and he underscored his belief that no wedge could come between them, even if the two parties exchanged criticism.
Walking a fine line with Iran
Vance also struck an upbeat tone in his assessment of the US’s efforts to scale back Iran’s nuclear programme, saying the two countries are on “the right pathway”.
“ Without prejudging the negotiations, I will say: So far, so good. We’ve been very happy by how the Iranians have responded to some of the points that we’ve made,” Vance said.
Vance’s optimism offered a counterpoint to concerns that the negotiations could be derailed by continuing tensions between the US and Iran.
Last week, a fourth round of talks expected in Rome were postponed for “logistical reasons”, though experts pointed out that the delay coincided with a fresh slate of US sanctions against Iran’s petroleum industry. Those talks are slated to resume this weekend in Oman’s capital Muscat.
On Wednesday, Vance stressed the US position that Washington will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, though he expressed ambivalence about nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
“We don’t care if people want nuclear power. We’re fine with that. But you can’t have the kind of enrichment programme that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon. And that’s where we draw the line,” Vance said.
Still, the question of nuclear enrichment — even for civilian purposes — has been a point of contention in recent weeks. Certain US officials have signalled they would like to see Iran eliminate its enrichment programme altogether.
For his part, Vance questioned whether it was likely Iran would use uranium enrichment solely for nuclear power, not weaponry.
“Let me ask this basic question: Which regime in the world has civil nuclear power and enrichment without having a nuclear weapon?” Vance asked. “The answer is no one.
Iran has long denied any ambition of seeking a nuclear weapon, and it has signalled it is willing to scale back its enrichment programme. Previously, it had signed onto a 2015 deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that imposed limits to its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
During his first term, however, Trump withdrew the US from the agreement, causing the pact to fall apart. The US president has since sought to rekindle nuclear negotiations with Iran during his second term.
“We really think that, if the Iran domino falls, you’re gonna see nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East,” Vance said.
Not ‘pessimistic’ about peace in Ukraine
The vice president also shared his insight into another area of tense international negotiation: the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Since February 2022, Russia has led a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after capturing regions including Crimea in 2014.
In his campaign for re-election last year, Trump pledged to end the slow-grinding war, which has cost thousands of lives. He even claimed he would stop the war on his first day back in office, though he has since backtracked, telling Time Magazine he meant those remarks “figuratively”.
But Trump has nevertheless sought to act as a mediator between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. His administration, however, has been criticised for negotiating with Russia in isolation and seeming to acquiesce to Putin’s demands.
Trump, for instance, has echoed Russian talking points blaming Ukraine for the war and saying that Zelenskyy can “forget about” membership in the NATO military alliance. His officials have also suggested Ukraine was “unlikely” to regain the territory it had lost to Russia’s invasion.
Vance took a slightly tougher stance against Russia on Wednesday, underscoring that he and the Trump administration did not see eye to eye with Putin.
“ You don’t have to agree with the Russian justification for the war, and certainly both the president and I have criticised the full-scale invasion,” Vance said. “But you have to try to understand where the other side is coming from to end the conflict.”
The vice president sought to justify Trump’s approach as an effort to bring both sides to the negotiating table, in the spirit of what he called “strategic realism”.
“Our view is: It’s absurd that you’ve had this war go on for so long. And the two sides aren’t even talking constructively about what would be necessary for them to end the conflict,” Vance explained.
“ A frustration that we’ve had frankly with both sides is that they hate each other so much — that, if you have an hour conversation with either side, the first 30 minutes is just them complaining about some historical grievance from four years ago or five years ago or 10 years ago.”
Vance laid out his position that Russia is “asking for too much” in terms of concessions from Ukraine. But he also criticised Ukraine for sticking to a 30-day ceasefire proposal that initially emerged from talks with the US in Saudi Arabia
“ What the Russians have said is a 30-day ceasefire is not in our strategic interest,” Vance said. “So we’ve tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire and more on: What would the long-term settlement look like?”
He added that he was “not yet that pessimistic” on the prospect of a negotiated peace, despite rumblings from the White House that Trump may withdraw from the negotiations altogether.