I think the original poster of the question might have had him in the defensive, but their ask of having a vegan on to actually examine their beliefs would be incredibly useful. The bit about "not being able to afford alternatives" (ignoring the fact that asking to not talk about veal / whole pigs / etc. is not the same thing as saying no one can ever not be vegan...) shows just how uneducated many non-vegans / vegetarians are in the diet choice. Sure I might get a fake meat burger when I'm out and there isn't an alternative, but I never buy it for home cooking and spend significantly less than when I was eating meat. Lentils, tofu, beans, and vegetables are all cheaper than meat.

If they're willing to have complicated guests on like the Russian correspondent then they should be just as willing to have a vegan.