Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not had any conversations with the White House regarding the massive leak of top-secret US intelligence documents, he said in a wide-ranging interview The Washington Post on Monday called the disclosure damaging to both. Washington and Kyiv.
Zelensky learned about the exposure like everyone else — from the news.
"I did not receive information from either the White House or the Pentagon in advance," Zelenskyy said. "We did not have such information. I personally do not. It's definitely a bad story."
"It is not profitable for us," Zelensky added. "It's not good for the reputation of the White House, and I think it's not good for the reputation of the United States."
The leak caused friction between Ukraine and the United States, which supported it most in the war. Washington's failure to protect classified information could lead to Kyiv sharing less intelligence with the United States, some Ukrainian officials said privately. But some of the information in the documents is radio intelligence data that indicates the United States is spying on high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyi.
Asked whether this caused a strain of trust between the countries, Zelensky said: "I cannot risk our state." He noted that airing his personal feelings was not worth the potential damage to US support for Ukraine's military efforts.
"Where I can speak frankly, I do. But there are high risks," he added. “If it was my war against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and there were two of us on the battlefield, I would tell everyone what I thought of them. But here the story is a little different. We are all responsible."
A White House representative said that the administration "is in constant communication with our Ukrainian colleagues on a number of issues, including regarding unauthorized disclosure of information." But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, said he would not comment on the details of those discussions.
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