Joe Biden says Ukraine’s Zelensky brushed off warnings of Russia’s invasion

Biden said the US had enough ‘data’ about an impending attack, but he understood why Zelensky and others thought it seemed far-fetched

Meanwhile, Ukraine has sought more help from the West, pleading for faster deliveries of weapons and for humanitarian support to combat deadly diseases

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A foreign volunteers unit, which fights in the Ukrainian army, seen in Sievierodonetsk. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:15pm, 11 Jun 2022Updated: 5:29pm, 11 Jun 2022

US President Joe Biden said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tuned out warnings that Russia would invade his country in the lead-up to the February 24 attack.

“I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating, but I knew, and we had data to sustain, he was going in off the border,” Biden said on Friday during a political fundraiser in Los Angeles.

“There was no doubt. And Zelensky didn’t want to hear it, nor did a lot of people,” he said.

The president acknowledged that the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin launching a full-scale invasion may have seemed far-fetched: “I understand why they didn’t want to hear it.”

Biden accused Putin of “trying to obliterate the culture, not just the nation, but the culture” of Ukraine and said the Russian leader sees the capital of Kyiv as “the seat of mother Russia”.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine on Saturday to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: EPA/EFE/Handout

On Saturday, the European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine on Saturday to discuss with Zelensky his country’s bid to get candidacy status to join the European Union.