Bessent sidesteps the question on Ukraine
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined three times on Sunday to say whether the United States regards Ukraine as an ally. He was appearing on NBC News' "Meet the Press," according to NBC News.
On the second ask, Bessent pointed to what Washington provides Kyiv. "We provide the three different things ... to Ukraine, so that’s what you do for an ally. We’re not providing those to Russia," he said. Asked a third time, he said only, "I’m not the secretary of state. I’m not the president."
Bessent said the U.S. supports Ukraine in three main ways: sharing intelligence, providing Starlink support, and allowing NATO members to buy U.S. weapons and resell them to Ukraine.
Criticism of Europe and of Zelenskyy
Bessent also said Europe was falling short. He noted that when Zelenskyy asked for Patriot missile systems, European NATO members already had plenty. "Why aren’t they forthcoming with the Patriots?" he asked.
He rebuked the Ukrainian president for publicly accusing the U.S. and Musk of limiting Ukraine's resources. "President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that, and I think it is very reckless for President Zelenskyy to make such a charge," Bessent said.
Bessent further accused Zelenskyy of presenting a "false binary" in his earlier interview, in which, Bessent said, the Ukrainian leader argued that Ukraine must win. "The war must end, and that will be with some kind of a negotiated settlement. And President Trump is working on that every day," Bessent said.
What Zelenskyy said earlier
Bessent spoke shortly after Zelenskyy appeared on the same program. The Ukrainian president told moderator Kristen Welker it would be a "historic mistake" for the U.S. to side with Russia in the war.
NBC News described Zelenskyy's relationship with Trump as sometimes tense and sometimes friendly. Of Trump, Zelenskyy said, "we want to trust him" and "I hope that he will change his decisions."
Zelenskyy said Starlink speed limits were hampering Ukrainian forces' ability to block drones, and he called the decision to limit the speed a "message from American government." He also said U.S. intelligence-sharing had been blocked for a period.
The dispute over intelligence, Starlink and sanctions
The exchange follows a week of friction. Trump said last weekend that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an "energy ceasefire," a announcement that surprised some European allies, NBC News reported. Zelenskyy halted Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for several days but said Russia was not honoring the same arrangement.
Days ago, Ukraine's military resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries. It also accused the U.S. of withholding intelligence about incoming Russian strikes that Washington normally shares. Zelenskyy accused Musk, a Trump ally, of restricting Ukraine's Starlink access, which Ukraine uses to track drones and defend itself.
Trump denied that the U.S. had stopped sharing certain intelligence, and Starlink service later returned to normal speed, according to NBC News.
On Friday, Trump announced he would waive certain sanctions on Russia that Congress had recently approved in a bipartisan vote. Earlier in the month, he said he would let Russia "immediately" begin selling hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel on the global market.
Bessent denied that Trump had lifted any sanctions. He said the president wanted a 60-day pause "so we can examine what’s going on." He added, "The only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo."
