Vice-President J.D. Vance on Friday addressed an audience of European allies who are on edge over President Trump’s outreach to Russia and his bid to end the Ukraine war.

Instead of talking about that conflict, Vance lectured them about democracy and warned the Europeans that they were not sufficiently upholding democratic values — at a moment when many of them are making the same accusation about the Trump administration.

Vance warned the audience at the Munich Security Conference about “the threat from within”, arguing that European governments were exercising extreme censorship and had failed to adequately rein in “out-of-control migration”. He did not mention Ukraine despite the high tension in Europe over President Trump’s approach to ending the war, and as an explosion at the former nuclear plant at Chernobyl on Friday illustrated the continued dangers of the conflict.

Vance earlier met European leaders who have expressed worries about Trump’s confrontational attitude towards trans-Atlantic allies, including his demand that they spend more on defence. Those fears have multiplied since Trump’s phone call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia earlier this week, when he demonstrated an apparent willingness to offer concessions that Ukraine considers unacceptable.

Vance is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later for talks that many observers, particularly in Europe, hope will shed at least some light on Trump’s ideas for a negotiated settlement to the war.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the conference that everyone “wants this war to end”. But “how this war ends”, he said, “will have a lasting influence on our security order”.