US President Joe Biden has asked his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, to stop making public statements that the United States provides insufficient military aid to Kyiv, writes The Washington Post, citing a senior official in the Democratic Party administration in Washington.

“Maintaining support [pentru ajutoarele acordate Ucrainei] here in Congress and among the general American public, we are thinking about it, and we understand that it will inevitably become more and more of a challenge over time,” the source told US reporters.

“But there are people who would think that even at this point, after 7 months of conflict, we’re going to struggle with what’s still a pretty bipartisan unit,” she added, referring to the fact that as a Democratic, and the Republican parties voted with a majority for the approval of military aid packages to Ukraine.

Biden and Zelenskyi have been on the phone since the start of the war, with their last conversation on Monday following the missile strikes on cities across Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin.

The press release of the White House after the conversation between the two states states that the US president promised Zelensky that he would “continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs for defense, including advanced air defense systems.”

On Tuesday, the White House also announced that the US would deliver the first two NASAMS air defense systems to Kyiv “in the near future.”

But at the beginning of the war, relations between the two leaders were not so good, with Zelensky repeatedly publicly calling on the United States and other Western powers that support Ukraine to send more weapons to Kyiv and impose even tougher sanctions, even as Biden and Congress approved unprecedented levels of military aid. .

What would the American president convey to Volodymyr Zelenskyi

The Washington Post notes that Biden understood Zelensky to be a politician who should strongly defend his people, but he also privately told him that it would be difficult for him to continue asking Congress for money if the Ukrainian president appeared ungrateful and continued to say that approved aid to them not enough

Although The Post’s source did not say when the conversation between the two took place, next month the US president will face his first test in front of voters since taking office, as the Democratic Party tries to retain control of the House of Representatives in midterm elections starting in November.

And OPEC+’s decision last week to sharply cut global oil production was a personal blow to Biden as his administration faces criticism for raising fuel prices in the United States.

However, when asked how long the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s military effort with billions of dollars, Biden and his top advisers said “as long as it takes.”

According to The Post, US officials say privately that neither Russia nor Ukraine can win the war, but rule out calling or even suggesting that Ukraine return to the negotiating table with Russia.

“This is a decision that should be made by Ukrainians. Our job is to help them be in the absolute best position on the battlefield (…) the day they decide to sit down at the diplomatic table,” a senior State Department official told The Post.American.

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