Don’t panic, Zelensky says in Biden criticism
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last night accused Joe Biden and other Western leaders of whipping up “panic” over a possible Russian invasion of his country. He publicly criticized the White House for “amplifying” the risk, which was a “mistake in my opinion,” in what was seen as an extraordinary put-down.
Zelensky said: “I’m the president of Ukraine, I’m based here and I think I know the details deeper than any other president. Do we have tanks on the streets? They go around saying ‘War starts tomorrow.’ It creates panic. Panic in the financial sector. It costs Ukraine a lot.”
He made the comments after a phone call with Biden, which a Ukrainian official claimed “did not go well.” A White House official said: “On the one hand, (Zelensky) wants assistance. But on the other, he has to assure his people he has the situation under control. That’s a tricky balance.”
It came as Russia’s military buildup expanded to include supplies of blood that would allow it to treat casualties, an indicator of its readiness to invade.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, said Russia had massed enough forces to launch a full-scale invasion with “little warning.”
The Russian buildup was “larger in scale and scope than anything we’ve seen in recent memory,” he said.
Meanwhile, Putin warned France’s President Emmanuel Macron that the West had “ignored” Russia’s security concerns over NATO expansion. However, Putin also said in an hour-long conversation that he would hold off taking any immediate action, according to the French. A French official said Putin indicated “very clearly that he did not want confrontation.”
But the Kremlin appeared to be attempting to drive a wedge between the U.S. and some NATO allies. Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said he was “embarrassed” for whoever wrote NATO’S recent response to Russian demands. He said: “Compared to the document we received from NATO, the U.S. response could almost be called a paragon of diplomatic politesse.
“If it depends on Russia, there will be no war. We don’t want wars. But we also won’t allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored.” A White House official welcomed that but said it must be “backed up” by withdrawing troops from the area.