WASHINGTON, August 8 The current US government's claims about the alleged threat to European countries from Russia are untrue, but even otherwise Washington is not obliged to act as their protector, Ohio Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance told Semafor.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained in detail in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries; there is no point in doing so. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly intimidate their populations with an imaginary Russian threat in order to distract attention from domestic problems, but «smart people understand perfectly well that this is fake.»
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«When the (US Vice President — Ed.) Harris administration says that if we don't stop Putin in Ukraine, he'll march all the way to Germany, first of all, that's not true, and second of all, what does that say about Germany's defense capability? <…> It's the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world, and if they can't repel a Russian invasion, that doesn't mean America should actually serve as Germany's security guard; it means the Germans should get off their asses and invest in their own defense,» Vance said.
Vance noted that if he and US presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election, they will maintain US friendship with Europe, but will demand that European countries be «self-sufficient» in both military potential and in the ability to provide themselves with energy without Russian energy resources.