Two US senators have come under fire for sharing photos of Volodymyr Zelensky on social media after they were reportedly asked not to do so for the safety of the Ukrainian president.
Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips slammed Republican Senators Steve Danes and Marco Rubio for their “appalling and reckless ignorance” after they each posted screenshots of a Zoom conversation between Zelenskiy and a group of U.S. lawmakers on Saturday morning, where he pleaded for more help. for Ukraine from the USA.
The congressman tweeted on Saturday that all lawmakers were specifically asked not to release anything from the virtual meeting online to “protect the safety” of the Ukrainian president, who is said to have been the target of several Russian assassination plots last week.
“The Ambassador of Ukraine deliberately asked each of us on Zoom NOT to share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the safety of President Zelenskiy,” he tweeted.
“Awful and reckless ignorance on the part of two U.S. senators.”
The Democrat shared a link to a social media post that featured tweets from two senators.
Mr. Rubio, who represents Florida in the US Senate, tweeted a screenshot of Mr. Zelensky to his 4.2 million followers, writing: “Now on the phone with President Zelensky of Ukraine.”
Montana Senator Danes also posted a photo of the meeting on his Twitter with the caption: “Currently on the phone with President Zelensky. #StandWithUkraine”.
Hours later, they were joined by fellow Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, along with Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse, Senator from Rhode Island, and Jim Hymes, Congressman from Connecticut, in an alleged security breach.
“Just talked to @ZelenskyyUa. His heroism and the courage of the Ukrainian people became a source of inspiration for the whole world,” Cruz said, attaching a screenshot of the Ukrainian president.
“The US must take immediate action to make sure they have the planes and weapons they need and impose an oil and gas embargo to derail Putin’s war.”
Mr. Whitehouse tweeted an iPhone screen photo of Mr. Zelensky on Zoom, writing: “It’s amazing to be with Zelensky in the middle of all this. God bless him and his people.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Himes also shared a photo, writing: “Some of us met remotely with President Zelensky this morning. @ZelenskyyUa He stands strong, but begged for more help.
“Aircraft, oil embargo, constant military aid. Profile in courage. We stand with him.”
The alleged security breaches come after reports that Mr. Zelenskiy survived three assassination attempts in the past week by Kremlin-backed groups.
The Ukrainian president has previously said he is Putin’s “number one target” but turned down a US offer to get him out of the country, vowing to stay and fight.
Mr. Zelensky invited all Republican and Democratic senators, as well as members of the House of Representatives, to join him on a Zoom call on Saturday morning, where he urged the US to provide more help to Ukraine.
He called on the US to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, impose sanctions on the Russian energy sector and send more military aid to Ukrainian forces.
The call lasted about an hour from 9:30 am ET.
Rep. Dean Phillips lashes out at Senators Marco Rubio and Steve Danes
(Twitter)
A source told CNN that the president thanked the US for the support it gave Ukraine after Russia launched a full-scale invasion last Thursday.
But Mr. Zelensky said the country needed more help as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to attack, increasingly targeting civilians and residential areas.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg that the Ukrainian president specifically asked the West to send more planes to help defend Ukraine.
“President Zelensky has made a desperate appeal to the countries of Eastern Europe to provide Ukraine with Russian-made aircraft. These planes are very much needed,” he said.
“And I will do my best to help the administration facilitate their transfer.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tweeted that Zelenskiy also urged the US to ban Russian oil and gas imports, calling the president’s courage “inspiring.”
“Just finished a briefing with President Zelensky of Ukraine, whose courage in the name of his people is inspiring. Zelensky urgently asked the US to stop importing Russian gas and oil, ”the Republican wrote on Twitter.
“More important than any other sanction,” he said. When will Joe Biden listen?”
Another senator told CNN they also discussed other sanctions, such as a ban on all commercial transactions such as Visa and Mastercard in Russia.
At the end of the conversation, several MPs reportedly expressed their support for Ukraine by saying “Glory to Ukraine” – a national salute that translates to “Glory to Ukraine”.
According to the interlocutor, the Ukrainian president was clearly touched by this gesture.
The virtual meeting came after Zelenskiy lashed out at NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine in a video message Friday, saying the decision effectively gave Russia the “green light” to continue bombing cities across the country. .
“Knowing that new strikes and casualties are inevitable, NATO deliberately decided not to close the sky over Ukraine,” he said.
“Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the go-ahead for further bombardments of Ukrainian cities and villages, refusing to create a no-fly zone.”
People cross a destroyed bridge during the evacuation of the city of Irpen, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling.
(AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration and NATO allies have repeatedly insisted that they would not establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
A no-fly zone would bar Russia from operating over the country, but would require the US military to actually start shooting down Russian planes.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday that this would lead to “all-out war in Europe” and that “President Biden has made it clear that we are not going to go to war with Russia.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also ruled out a no-fly zone, saying “we are not involved in this conflict.”
“As NATO allies, we have a responsibility to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine, because that would be even more dangerous, more destructive and cause even more human suffering,” he said.
On Saturday, Putin warned the West that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone would be taken as a declaration of war on Russia.
The Russian President said that Moscow would consider “any steps in this direction” as an intervention that “would pose a threat to our servicemen.”
“At that very second, we will consider them as participants in a military conflict, and it doesn’t matter what kind of participants they will be,” he said.
Despite the risks of a no-fly zone, 74% of Americans said they support a no-fly zone over Ukraine, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
There is also mounting pressure on the US to ban imports of Russian oil and gas, a move that would hurt the Russian energy industry but could also drive up gas station prices for Americans.