Zelensky says Biden administration told him nothing about classified docs leak

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he learned about the leak of classified war information from news reports and not from President Joe Biden’s administration.

“I received no advance information from the White House or the Pentagon,” Zelensky said The Washington Post in an interview. “We didn’t have that information. I personally don’t. It’s definitely a bad story.’

He called the leak damaging both his own country and America’s reputation around the world.

“It’s unprofitable for us,” he said. “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 cache of classified material, posted online through the Discord messaging program by National Guard Airman Jack Teixeira, detailed U.S. national security secrets from Ukraine to the Middle East to China.

The material originally appeared on Discord – a platform popular with gamers – and was then reposted on Twitter and other social media platforms.

The leaks were particularly topical – some Ukrainian air defense maps were barely 40 days old. The revelation of the classified material shocked US intelligence agencies and raised questions about America’s ability to keep its secrets.

The documents contained information about Kiev’s shortage of weapons – raising concerns that the armed forces would run out of missiles – and revealed that the United States had doubts about Ukraine’s chances of success in its forthcoming counter-offensive, believing it could only result in in “modest territorial gains”.

And they seemed to show that the US was eavesdropping on Zelensky’s internal conversations.

The Ukrainian president would not confirm or deny whether the information in the material was accurate and he would not even describe the revelations as “sensitive” — because that would be acknowledging that the documents are real, he said.

“It’s not sensitive,” Zelensky told The Post. “If I answer, it means it’s sensitive, there are real documents. Please stop playing games with me. I am the president of a country at war.’

Ukrainian officials dismissed the documents as “fake” or part of a Russian disinformation campaign. But U.S. officials said some of the documents appeared to have been altered, but said for the most part they are genuine.

Much of the information in the documents is “top secret” and is restricted to US officials or to the “Five Eyes” – the intelligence alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Zelensky called the leaks a “TV show” and feared the information could help Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

“Somewhere it’s a hype, somewhere it’s a scandal,” Zelensky said. “Anything that informs our enemy in any way beforehand is definitely a minus for us. I don’t see any advantages in this.’

‘People ask me, who benefits from this? My answer is very simple: I don’t have time to find out who benefits from this. I look at who doesn’t benefit,” he noted.

Leaking classified information has strained Kiev-Washington relations – above all, President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak during Biden’s unannounced visit to Kiev in February

Zelensky noted that he had been caught up in leaks in the US before — referring to his 2019 phone call with then-President Donald Trump that led to Trump’s first impeachment — over Zelensky and Trump at the United Nations in September 2019

The leak led to strained relations between Kiev and Washington. And there are some concerns that the Ukrainians could stop sharing intelligence with the Biden administration to prevent further breaches.

Zelensky stopped short of saying relations between his nation and the United States were damaged, but said the information in the documents helped Russia and hurt his country.

“Anything that informs our enemy in any way beforehand is definitely a minus for us. I don’t see any benefits here,” he said.

“I can’t risk our state,” Zelensky remarked.

The 45-year-old president of Ukraine noted that it was not the first time he had been entangled in leaks from the White House. Zelensky became entangled in Donald Trump’s first impeachment proceedings after details of the then-President’s phone conversation with him were leaked.

“Remember how our conversation with Trump came out? They printed it. Well, to be honest, I didn’t give permission for that either,” he told the Post.

Details of Trump’s phone call with Zelensky on July 25, 2019, were leaked to news outlets, which revealed that then-President had pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s activities in Ukraine.

Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine and a coveted meeting in the Oval Office. The ensuing scandal led to an impeachment trial in which Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

Jack Tiexeira was arrested in April on charges of leaking classified information online

This image in the Justice Department’s motion for continued pre-trial detention of Jack Teixeira shows electronic items recovered from a dumpster at his mother and stepfather’s home in North Dighton, Massachusetts

Jack Teixeira, a member of the US Air Force National Guard, was arrested in Massachusetts in April.

He had top-secret security clearance and reportedly began posting information about the documents online around December 2022, and photos of documents in January.

He faces charges of unauthorized retention and disclosure of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents.