Europe Expected to Provide ‘Lion’s Share’ of Security Guarantees for Ukraine, Vance Says

‘I think that we should expect, and [President Donald Trump] certainly expects, Europe to play the leading role here,’ said U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Vice President JD Vance meets members of the National Guard during a visit to Union Station in Washington on Aug. 20, 2025. Al Drago/Pool via Getty Images

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Aug. 20 that European nations will need to take the “lion’s share” of the burden of providing Ukraine with security guarantees as part of efforts to end the war with Russia, signaling the Trump administration’s intention to limit U.S.-backed military support for Kyiv moving forward.

Vance, speaking on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle” on Aug. 20, made the comment two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump in the White House while flanked by a team of European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.