Ukraine's office of the president is firing back at President Joe Biden's claim to Democrat donors that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "didn't want to hear" about intelligence Russia's Vladimir Putin was going to invade.
Instead, Ukraine presidential speaker Sergei Nikiforov shot back at Biden, saying Biden and the world "did not want to hear us."
Sources told Newsmax, Zelenskyy never listened to Biden, saying the Ukrainian leader always trusted his own intelligence above all, because it came from within and from the front lines in Ukraine.
"Therefore, the phrase 'did not want to hear' probably needs clarification," Nikiforov responded to Biden's "didn't want to hear it" claim. "In addition, if you remember, the president of Ukraine called on partners to introduce a package of preventive sanctions in order to encourage Russia to withdraw its troops and deescalate the situation.
"And here we can already say that our partners 'did not want to hear us,'" he added.
The remarks that brought the emphatic response from Ukraine came from Biden to Democrat donors in Los Angeles on Friday.
"Nothing like this has happened since World War II," Biden said. "I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating. But I knew we had data to sustain [Putin] was going to go in, off the border.
"There was no doubt, and Zelenskyy didn't want to hear it."
But Zelenskyy was firing back at the claims of certain invasion, saying it was destabilizing Ukraine and empowering Russia's intentions. Instead, Ukraine wanted support in the way of lethal aid to fight back against Russia's aggression, not emboldening them, as Biden likely did.
Nikiforov recalled Zelenskyy had three or four telephone conversations with Biden, during which they exchanged thoughts on the situation around Ukraine.
"Zelenskyy never listened to Biden – not about Minsk, not about invasion," a source told Newsmax on Saturday, firing back at Biden's claim. "He didn't flee from Ukraine also. Ukraine didn't fall after three days.
"Fortunately Zelenskyy always trusts his own intelligence more because they are on the frontline always and more deeply engaged here."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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