Zelensky and his aides have in recent weeks become fed up with what they see as an "overreaction" by the US that they believe is inciting panic and economic turmoil inside Ukraine
As the US has been warning the world of a potentially "imminent" Russian invasion of Ukraine, one foreign leader in particular has not been convinced: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Tension has been building between Zelensky and Biden administration officials,amid a disagreement over how to interpret and publicly communicate US intelligence assessments that say Russia could be preparing a large-scale attack on Ukraine. As Biden's top spokesperson has warned that the administration believes a war is "imminent," Zelensky told reporters on Friday, "There is a feeling abroad that there is war here. That's not the case."
The discord speaks to a persistent concern within Ukraine that it is being used as a pawn in geopolitical drama between the United States and Russia, and that its concerns are secondary to a broader set of disputes between two world powers. Even as Washington seeks to refute that notion, Ukrainian officials have become more outspoken about feeling ignored amid the mounting tensions.
That has frayed nerves in both capitals. Even as the White House seeks to project its utmost support for Kyiv, including through shipments of military equipment and new funding, some officials privately say the backing is being met without much thanks from Zelensky's government.
"I can't be like other politicians who are grateful to the United States just for being the United States," Zelensky said on Friday.
Biden, who said he did not have any updates on the situation in Ukraine, told reporters on Friday that he would be moving US troops to NATO allies in Eastern Europe in the "near term." Earlier this week, as many as 8,500 US troops were placed on heightened alert to prepare to deploy to Eastern Europe -- including units with "medical support, aviation support, logistical support" and "combat formation," according to a Pentagon spokesman.
"I will be moving US troops to Eastern Europe in NATO countries in the near term," Biden said when asked about a timeline for doing so.
Zelensky at first appeared concerned by the US assessments, and publicly accused Russia in November of planning a coup to topple his government -- an accusation fueled at least partly by similar intelligence provided to Ukraine by the US at the time
But Zelensky and his aides have in recent weeks become fed up with what they see as an "overreaction" by the US that they believe is inciting panic and economic turmoil inside Ukraine, while at the same time the US refuses to take preemptive deterrence measures such as imposing new sanctions on Russia, the sources said. He and his advisers were particularly angered by the US' decision to order departures from the US Embassy in Kyiv, which Zelensky openly called a "mistake" on Friday. They have also been displeased by the US' repeated use of the word "imminent" to describe a potential invasion -- a word whose closest translation in Ukrainian is "inevitable," an adviser to Zelensky noted, which Ukraine disagrees with.
"Kyiv would find more value in taking active deterrent measures such as immediate sanctions against Nord Stream than the persistent verbal warnings predicting imminent war for the last couple months that provide no deterrent, and are actually unintentionally negatively impacting the Ukrainian economy," the adviser to Zelensky said, referring to the Russia-Germany gas pipeline Nord Stream 2.
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