U.S. Vice President JD Vance denied on Tuesday disrespecting Britain and France by describing a planned peacekeeping force in Ukraine as 20,000 troops from some "random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years". Vance's comments about the planned British- and French-led European peacekeeping force caused politicians and veterans in both countries to say he was dishonoring hundreds of troops killed fighting alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Vance said it was "absurdly dishonest" to suggest he had criticized British or French troops in his comments, made in an interview with Fox News on Monday. "I don't even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond," he said on X. Vance said on Tuesday he was referring to other potential countries in what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called at the weekend "a coalition of the willing" that would contribute to any post-war peacekeeping force in Ukraine.