The relationship between Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and US Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has never been particularly warm, Time Magazine reported on Wednesday, citing White House officials.
Relations between the two have come under increased scrutiny since Harris entered the race for the US Democratic party presidential nomination, after President Joe Biden dropped out last month.
The difficulties began as early as February 2022, a week before the full onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, when Harris met Zelensky in Munich to reportedly deliver Washington’s intelligence assessments and battlefield instructions.
Both sides suspected Russia would launch its military operation, but Harris’s position “was not entirely welcome, and the impression she made on the Ukrainians was mixed,” as they could not agree on a response, Time wrote. Harris reportedly refused Zelensky’s calls to pre-emptively sanction Russia, as well as his wish to “flood weapons into Ukraine,” according to Time.
The Biden administration at the time allegedly feared that providing advanced weaponry to Kiev would strengthen Russia's “conviction that Ukraine was becoming a client state of NATO,” the magazine said.
“The message she delivered to Zelensky in Munich added to his frustration with his allies” ahead of the onset of the conflict, and “set the tone for a relationship with Harris that has never been particularly warm,” Time wrote.
At the Swiss-hosted Ukraine peace conference in June, the vice president represented the US, as Biden chose to attend a pre-election fundraiser in Hollywood instead. The interactions between Harris and Zelensky during the event were marked by their usual stiff formality, Time said.
Kamala Harris became the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for the November election after Biden dropped out of the race against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in July. Her position as nominee is yet to be solidified, but according the Harris campaign, she has broken donation records and effectively secured her party nomination soon after being endorsed by the US President.
Meanwhile, Moscow has stated that it will work with whomever is chosen by the American people in November. Russia has never seen another potential Trump presidency through “rose-tinted glasses,” given his history of imposing sanctions on Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press last week.