Although many attendees at the MSC urged more aid for Ukraine and expressed wariness regarding a possible second term of US President Donald Trump, Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance offered a different perspective on Transatlantic ties and the current situation in Europe.

Trump recently claimed that he would not protect countries in NATO that do not spend enough on defense and would "encourage" an aggressor to "do whatever the hell they want" with them.

"Obviously we love our NATO allies and I think we value the NATO alliance, and that's true across the political spectrum," Vance said at the event.

Vance said that Trump and conservative Republicans want Europe "to be a little bit more self-sufficient" when it comes to defense. The Ohio politician said that if Europe believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is an "existential threat." then key EU players like Germany would have "have to step up."

As a $60 billion (€55.6 billion) aid package for Ukraine remains stalled in the US Republican-majority House of Representatives, Vance said during a MSC panel discussion that the assistance would not "fundamentally change the reality" of the wartime situation. 

He argued that the main problem in Ukraine was "that there's no clear end point," while adding that the US doesn't manufacture enough weapons and ammunition to back wartime efforts in Europe, the Middle East and "potentially contingency in East Asia."

"Can we send the level of weaponry we've sent for the last 18 months?" Vance asked, regarding US support for Ukraine. "We simply cannot. No matter how many checks the US Congress write, we are limited there." 

Vance said "what's reasonable to accomplish is some negotiated peace."

Attendees at the MSC have criticized Vance's point of view, saying peace talks at the moment could lead to Russia solidifying its gains over Ukraine since it started in the war in February 2022.

German politician Ricarda Lang, the co-chair of the environmentalist Greens, rebuked Vance's point, saying Putin "has no interest in peace at the moment."

If Putin is victorious, Lang said, "he, but also other forces like China, are going to learn that it's possible to just change borders and that NATO is not going to hold it against us." She said this would have negative consequences not only for the EU, but also the US.