Tensions growing between Washington and Kyiv as Ukraine-Russia crisis drags on
CNN
As the US has been warning the world of a potentially "imminent" Russian invasion of Ukraine, one foreign leader in particular has not been convinced: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Tension has been building between Zelensky and Biden administration officials, sources told CNN, amid a disagreement over how to interpret and publicly communicate US intelligence assessments that say Russia could be preparing a large-scale attack on Ukraine. As Biden's top spokesperson has warned that the administration believes a war is "imminent," Zelensky told reporters on Friday, "There is a feeling abroad that there is war here. That's not the case."
The discord speaks to a persistent concern within Ukraine that it is being used as a pawn in geopolitical drama between the United States and Russia, and that its concerns are secondary to a broader set of disputes between two world powers. Even as Washington seeks to refute that notion, Ukrainian officials have become more outspoken about feeling ignored amid the mounting tensions.
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