US Vice President JD Vance speaks at a midterm campaign rally last Thursday.JD Vance has been condemned for praising Vladimir Putin despite the Russian leader continuing to order the bombardment of Ukraine.
The US vice-president said Putin was “more soft spoken than you would necessarily expect” when he has spoken to him on the phone.
He accused the American media of having “a particular image” of the brutal autocrat, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Vance also described Putin as “very deliberate and very careful” before appearing to compare him to Donald Trump.
His comments, in an interview with Fox News, come amid criticism of Trump for agreeing a sanctions-busting diesel deal with Putin despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Speaking to Fox News, he said that although he has never Putin in person, he has “talked to him on the phone a number of times”.
He said: “It’s interesting, he’s more soft spoken than you would necessarily expect. The American media has a particular image of him.
“He’s soft-spoken in a certain way, he’s very deliberate, he’s very careful. And I think fundamentally he’s a person who looks out for the interests as he sees it of Russia.
“I think one of the reasons he respects the president of the United States is that he knows the president looks out for the interests of the American people.
“And while they often disagree about issues, and obviously the president has been very critical of Vladimir Putin, the president is also willing to work with anybody if he thinks it’s going to accomplish an important goal for America.”
Vance: "I've never met Putin in person. I've spoken to him on the phone. He was calmer than you might expect. The American media has a stereotype of him. He's very deliberate and measured in his words.
I think, at his core, he's someone who cares about Russia's interests as he…
Vance’s decision to make clear his admiration for Putin came in for heavy criticism online.
How absolutely despicable. I once knew the Vice President a bit, it's painful to see what he's become https://t.co/BqHk3wP76A
— Gregg Nunziata (@greggnunziata) October 17, 2026Praising an indicted war criminal and dictator who bombs civilian sites and kidnaps children to destroy a neighboring democracy. This is deplorable. https://t.co/20pcWcCbwO
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) October 17, 2026Here is Vance saying Putin is a much misunderstood, sensible mass murderer https://t.co/gigblzpv13
— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) October 18, 2026I never met Hitler, Mussolini, Castro or Putin but I know they all are the worst of humanity by their awful actions against humanity.
— Birmingham Born (@MDJD2) October 17, 2026He's calm, deliberate and measured because he is ex-KGB!
— Kilted Kunt (@KiltedKunt) October 17, 2026Casually normalizing a mass murderer is grotesque.
JDVance would have you believe that Putin's never done anything wrong, and that's evil.
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