Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims he had no contacts with the White House following the publication of a trove of sensitive US intelligence papers on social media.
The records purportedly released by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, included a scathing US intelligence assessment of the Ukrainian war, as well as details disclosing US intelligence collecting on allies such as Ukraine, South Korea, and Israel.
According to defense and intelligence insiders, the leak showed serious flaws in how the Pentagon protects its most sensitive secrets. In response, the US Air Force suspended two leaders of Teixeira’s Massachusetts Air National Guard unit last Wednesday, a week after the unit’s intelligence mission was suspended pending an inquiry.
Teixeira is facing Espionage Act charges after allegedly posting secret intelligence to the social media network Discord, but has yet to enter a plea. A judge at Teixeira’s custody hearing last week stated that he would not rule on whether Teixeira should remain in jail while awaiting trial.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, May 2, Zelensky said he learned about the Pentagon leak through news coverage and claimed he “did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand.”
“We did not have that information. I personally did not. It’s definitely a bad story,” he said, calling it “unprofitable” for Ukraine, as well as “also not beneficial to the reputation of the White House, and I believe it is not beneficial to the reputation of the United States.”
Responding to Zelensky’s claims, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “conducted a large number of phone calls” to allies and partners, including to Austin’s Ukrainian counterpart, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
“I don’t want to speak for President Zelensky. … The United States, the Department of Defense, we remain committed to working very closely with Ukraine and our international allies and partners to ensure that they have the security assistance they need to be able to defend their country and take back their sovereign territory,” Ryder said.