U.S., UK to Ukraine: Say Thank You Once in a While
Top officials blast Kyiv officials for being ungrateful after telling them that they can't join NATO until they defeat Russia.
Shortly after Ukraine was told that it will not be allowed to join NATO until it defeats Russia, top officials from the U.S. and Britain told Kyiv that it wouldn’t hurt to show a little more gratitude.
Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, was asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public rebuke after being blocked from joining the alliance. Sullivan said Washington deserves a “degree of gratitude” for its support up until this point.
Ben Wallace, the minister of defense in the UK, also said Britain is “not Amazon” when it comes to providing weapons and indicated that it might go over well in the future for Ukrainian leadership to show more gratitude.
Zelensky said Wednesday that he has always been grateful for the support he’s received from the West.
“I simply don't know how else we should be grateful. We can wake up in the morning and thank the minister. Have him write to me how to be grateful, and I will be grateful,” he said at a press conference.
This is not the first time tensions have become public between Kyiv and Western countries.
BIDEN: U.S. RUNNING OUT OF AMMO
Earlier this year, Dmitry Kuleba, the foreign minister, took to Twitter and posted, “Ukraine is grateful to partners for their military aid, but we should remain honest with one another: no one has done enough as long as Russian boots remain on Ukrainian ground. Arming our country for victory is the shortest way to restoring peace and security in Europe & beyond.”
LIMITED-TIME DEAL FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS
We also reported that Biden was said to have lost his temper during a phone call with Zelensky in June.
NBC News reported that Biden was angered when Zelensky asked for more money after the White House just announced a $1 billion injection for Kyiv.
The report said Biden had “barely finished telling Zelensky he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelensky started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting.”
In May, Biden was furious that senior U.S. officials went to the media about Washington sharing intel with Ukrainians that may have resulted in the sinking of Russia’s flagship and the killings of about a dozen Russian generals, according to another report.
Thomas Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times, wrote at the time that his sources in D.C. implied that the leaks were not “part of any thought-out strategy,” and Biden was “livid” when he learned about them. Friedman said Biden got on the phone with the head of national intelligence and CIA to demand that these leaks end because it was inching the U.S. closer to conflict.
The NBC report said tension was brewing between Zelensky and Biden before the phone call. Zelensky thanked Biden publicly for the assistance after the call.
“I had an important conversation with U.S. President Biden today,” he said in videotaped remarks. “I am grateful for this support. It is especially important for our defense in Donbas.”
TRENDPOST: Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced last month the framework of a new partnership that aims to bolster ties between the two countries in the face of rising tensions with Russia and China.