He made the statement while campaigning for Hungarian PM Viktor Orban on April 7, five days before high-states parliamentary election could end Orban’s long tenure in office.
Vance said officials in Ukrainian security services “tried to meddle” in U.S. and Hungarian elections and called that interference “part of the price” of cooperating with certain elements of Ukraine’s system. “This is just what they do,” he added.
He alleged that people in the Ukrainian system “conducted a campaign” with Democrats ahead of the November 2024 presidential vote, a comment The Guardian noted he made while campaigning in Hungary.
Vance also said he believes everyone wants the Russo–Ukrainian war to end as soon as possible.
“Whatever some elements in the Ukrainian system think about
me or others, I really believe it is in the interests of Ukraine, Europe,
Hungary, and the United States that this war end as quickly as possible,” he
said.