Relations between Kamala Harris and Zelensky are ‘complicated’ – Time

Relations between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are “complicated”.

This information reported according to Time magazine.

The publication released excerpts of dialogues between the politicians from three years ago, prior to the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Time recalled that in mid-February 2022, Vice President Harris traveled to Europe to warn about a likely Russian invasion. One of her missions was to meet with President Zelensky and explain how the U.S. intended to respond to the onset of hostilities against Ukraine. According to a White House representative, Harris was also supposed to provide Kyiv with the latest American intelligence and offer guidance on the “preparations necessary for success on the battlefield.”

Harris’s speech was not well received by the Ukrainian administration, known as Bankova. Ukrainian reaction to her words was mixed, Time writes.

“Kamala Harris said that the attack was inevitable,” recalls Oleksii Reznikov, who was present at the meeting with the U.S. Vice President as the Minister of Defense at that time. “President Zelensky responded by saying, ‘I understand. Our intelligence has the same information,'” Reznikov added.

However, Time reports that Zelensky and Harris failed to agree on Ukraine’s actions following the anticipated invasion. Zelensky urged the United States to impose preemptive sanctions against Russia, arguing that this would make Vladimir Putin reconsider his decision to attack Ukraine. Zelensky insisted that if war with Russia was indeed inevitable, the U.S. should provide Ukraine with all necessary weapons, including anti-aircraft systems, fighter jets, and heavy artillery.

Ukrainian officials present at the negotiations stated that Harris rejected both of Zelensky’s proposals, stating that the U.S. could not impose preemptive sanctions against Russia, as these could only be applied after some act had been committed. Instead of promising to send advanced weaponry, the Americans, according to Reznikov, pressured Zelensky to publicly acknowledge the inevitability of war with Russia. Time notes that Zelensky asked Harris directly: “You want me to acknowledge this, but what will that give you? If I acknowledge it here, in this conversation, will you impose sanctions (against Russia)?” He received no answer.

“The U.S. position at the time was that the threat of sanctions was a stronger deterrent for Russia than their imposition and that providing Kyiv with modern weaponry would likely reinforce Putin’s belief that Ukraine was becoming a NATO state,” the publication explains.

The article mentions that the next message Vice President Harris delivered to Zelensky in Munich deepened his frustration with the allies and set a cold tone for relations between Zelensky and Harris, which had never been particularly warm. Since the invasion, Harris has not visited Ukraine. According to a Ukrainian official, during official meetings, she showed sympathy for their situation, “but I would call it formal sympathy, in line with protocol.”

Time also writes that regarding Ukraine, Harris played a supporting role, attending summits and other important meetings related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict when U.S. President Biden was unable to attend.