Sen. Mark Kelly, a Harris veep contender, rips into JD Vance on Ukraine

Sen. Mark Kelly, a contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, tore into Republican VP nominee Sen. JD Vance on Wednesday, saying Vance would “abandon” Ukraine in favor of Russia.

“It’s pretty clear to me you’ve got JD Vance who wants to totally abandon Ukraine, and you’ve got Donald Trump who has been in the past rather pro-Russia and leaned in with Vladimir Putin in ways I would never expect the president to do,” Kelly said in a brief interview with POLITICO. “So again, we have a serious choice to make, and I’d be really concerned about what those guys would do to abandon an ally in favor of an adversary. And that would be a much more dangerous world.”

The two senators are on the opposite end of the spectrum on the issue of aiding Ukraine.

As a senior Senate Armed Services Committee member and former Navy pilot, Kelly (D-Ariz.) has been a staunch advocate for Ukraine and has taken a hands-on role on the issue of training Ukrainian F-16 pilots at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in his home state. Vance (R-Ohio), a Marine Corps veteran, is a vocal opponent of Ukraine aid, saying it’s prolonging a bloody war Kyiv cannot win.

Kelly, who this week visited the Farnborough International Airshow in England, said he used the occasion to meet with U.S. diplomatic and military officials about how U.S. security assistance has helped Ukraine against Russia’s two-year-old invasion.

Asked if he’s being vetted for the presidential ticket, Kelly declined to discuss it, saying, “I don’t get into private conversations.”

“This isn't about me. I mean, this is about Kamala Harris and making sure we win this election here in how many days, 100, less than 100?” he said. “This is really about her and Donald Trump — a prosecutor with all this experience running against a guy that's been convicted of 34 felonies and a choice about the future, or are we going back to the past where we were less safe.”