Zelenskyy has not spoken to White House about leaked secret documents

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he had no conversations with the White House regarding the large-scale leak of classified US intelligence documents. Zelenskyy called these leaks harmful for both Washington and Kyiv, and it transpires that the Ukrainian president found out about the leak of classified information from the media.

Source: Interview with Zelenskyy, partially published by The Washington Post

Quote from Zelenskyy: "I did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand. It’s definitely a bad story. It is unprofitable for us. It is not beneficial to the reputation of the White House, and I believe it is not beneficial to the reputation of the United States."

Details: According to a US official, Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, discussed the leaks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a telephone conversation in April. The publication specified that previously, the dialogue between Blinken and Kuleba was scheduled to discuss a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State, also made several calls with her counterparts.

The leaks have created friction between Ukraine and the United States, writes WP. In private conversations, Ukrainian officials told the publication that Washington's failure to protect confidential information could lead to Kyiv sharing less intelligence with the United States. 

Some of the documents indicate that the United States is spying on Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy. Whether this caused tension and loss of trust between states, Zelenskyy told WP: "I cannot risk our state". He noted that the disclosure of his personal feelings is not worth the potential harm to US support for Ukraine's military efforts.

"Where I can speak frankly, I do it. But there are high risks. If it were my war against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and there were two of us on the battlefield, I would tell everyone what I think of them. But here the story is a little different. We are all responsible," Zelenskyy said. 

An unnamed White House official told the publication that the Biden administration is "in constant communication with our Ukrainian counterparts about a range of issues, including over the unauthorized disclosures." However, he did not comment on the details of these discussions.

Zelenskyy, who became embroiled in ex-President Donald Trump's first impeachment scandal, said it was not the first time US leaks had complicated his life. He was now more focused on preparing Ukraine to retake Russian-occupied territory.

"I don’t know if it’s a manipulation or an accident, and so on, and why should I? Despite such information movements, I have to prepare the state for de-occupation, not for other steps. And this is my task. Do you remember how our conversation with Trump got out? They printed it. Well, to be honest, I didn’t give my permission for that either.," he said. 

Commenting on the leaks of classified information, Zelensky told WP that he considers them a "TV show" that may interest some people but ultimately helps Russia at a critical moment. 

"Somewhere it’s a hype, somewhere it’s a scandal. For us, anything that informs our enemy in advance in one way or another is definitely a minus for us. I don’t see any advantages here," Zelenskyy said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy refused to confirm or deny the information contained in the leaks or to answer how sensitive the leak was for Ukraine.

"It is not sensitive. If I answer you, that means it’s sensitive, it means there are real documents. Please, stop playing games with me. I am the president of a country at war," he said.

Background:

• On 6 April, the New York Times reported that classified military documents had appeared on Twitter and Telegram, which detail the plans of the United States and NATO to develop the Ukrainian army before the planned counteroffensive.
• Mykhailo Podoliak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, called the "leaked" materials "Photoshopped" and joked about the deterioration of Russian intelligence. Citing US officials on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported that Russia or pro-Russian elements are behind the leak of several secret US military documents that were posted on social media and allegedly testified to preparations for Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive.
• Later, a new batch of secret documents appeared on social media, which likely detail the secrets of American national security to Ukraine, the Middle East and China.
• On 9 April, the US Department of Justice launched an investigation into the leaking of many US intelligence documents published on social media recently.
• Bellingcat Investigators established that the recently leaked secret US documents on the war in Ukraine were distributed on 1 and 2 March on a Discord server called WowMao, though they might have first been leaked even earlier.

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