[UPDATE] Bessent declines three times to say whether Ukraine is a U.S. ally; Zelensky says backing Putin would be a 'historic mistake'
Zelensky said the U.S. briefly blocked intelligence sharing and slowed Starlink as a "message from American government"; Bessent called that "reckless."
Ukraine's president and the U.S. Treasury secretary each made their case on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Oct. 18. Siding with Putin. Volodymyr Zelensky (President, Ukraine) said: "If United States will support Putin, I mean, it's unbelievable, it's tragedy, it's historic mistake." He said he still hopes Trump will "change his decisions." The ally question. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Zelensky "should be careful." Pressed a third time on whether Ukraine is an ally, he said: "I'm not the secretary of state. I'm not the president." He said European NATO members "have plenty of Patriots" and asked why they aren't sending them. Iran. On Truth Social, Trump said Russia is doing "very little, if anything" to help Iran. Russia announced the same day that Sergei Lavrov (Foreign Minister, Russia) will visit Tehran this week.
PREVIOUSLY
On Friday, Oct. 16, Trump waived the Graham law's Russian energy tariffs and sanctions; the lead story above carries the timeline.
RELATED
Senators ask the Pentagon inspector general to investigate Starlink disruptions in Ukraine
Their letter says Space Force-administered contracts had previously given Ukraine unrestricted terminal speeds, and asks who changed that.
SEMI-RELATED
U.S. officials warned Ukraine and Europe that intelligence sharing and weapons sales could stop unless Ukraine quit hitting Russian energy
The purchases run through NATO's Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List; NATO said it had seen no change to the program that weekend.