Ukrainian president Volodymyr
Zelensky is speaking out
on the leak of highly
sensitive US
intelligence
that according to a new interview
with the Washington Post.
Let's get some more on this story
from CNN's Nic Robertson.
He's joining us
live from Ukraine right now.
Nic, Zelinski
says the disclosure
of this sensitive information
was damaging to his country.
And damaging to the United States.
Yeah, he said it was bad and it doesn't reflect
well on the White House
that his biggest ally,
his biggest supporter,
didn't contact him about leaks
that were emanating from their country,
that affected
Ukraine's national security leaks
that indicated
or appeared to indicate that Ukraine
was short of ammunition
leaks
that appeared to embarrass
potentially Ukrainian officials
because they claimed that the
Ukrainian officials
were told not to attack
Russian targets inside Russia
on the anniversary
of the war on the 24th of February.
They were talked out of that.
I've spoken
with defense intelligence
officials here in Ukraine who say that
part of the leak wasn't true.
So it's not clear
in the entirety of the leaks
what was true, what was false,
what was manipulated
and the leaks that were available
on these open sources.
But the reality of a lot of the dynamic
and the tensions
between the president to Lansky
and President Biden
but clear
he doesn't feel happy about this
and is choosing
to speak to it in the newspaper.
That is right in the city, of course,
Washington, D.C., The Washington Post,
a wide ranging interview, they call it.
So he's choosing very carefully
where where to speak out
to make sure this lands on target.
Of course,
Secretary of State
Antony Blinken did
call his opposite number,
the foreign minister here
in Ukraine in April to discuss the leaks.
But this clearly
seems to have fallen short
of what President Zelensky expected Wolf.
Yes, some of those leaks contained
highly classified U.S.
intelligence assessments
of Ukraine's
capable military capabilities
where there was strength
and where there was weakness.
And the Ukrainians
clearly were not happy about that leak.
All this comes,
Nick as you know,
as Ukraine
is preparing
to launch
a major military counteroffensive.
What are you hearing
Yeah, officials I
talked to indicate that they there's
a certain amount
more ammunition that they would like
I think certainly defense analyst
would say to you, yes, of course,
they would say that
they would want more ammunition
because they know that this offensive
is critical.
They know that
they need to have momentum.
They know that
they've been short of ammunition
until now
and they're going to have a large number
of specific targets.
Imagine when they do
break through the lines and move forward.
They're going to want to reach deeper
into Russian lines
to hit their ammunition
supplies, to hit their supply chains,
to keep them,
you know, to keep them on the back foot.
So that would be a concern.
But as the NATO's
chief has said, Ukraine has.
98% of the military hardware,
the fighting vehicles, that it needs.
But I think perhaps
the greatest indicator that the that
that the offensive is not quite
ready has been the
whether it's
been really been really raining.
So the ground is very wet.
And that's
what Ukrainian officials are saying,
that the conditions aren't there yet.
Now, our Nic
Robertson on the scene for us. Stay safe.
Thank you very much.
Joining us now,
CNN military analyst,
the former NATO
supreme allied commander,
retired General Wesley Clark,
and the former U.S.
ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor.
Ambassador Taylor,
first of all, what's your reaction
to these latest comments from President
Zelensky in The Washington Post?
Did the Biden administration
misstep in
not giving Ukraine
at least a heads up
about these sensitive leaks
Well, Wolf, it sounds like
the secretary of State, Blinken, did call
his counterpart,
that is Foreign Minister Kuleba
right away and let him know
it sounds like.
Deputy Secretary of State
Wendy Sherman
made a couple of phone calls as well.
So the effort was there,
whether it got to President Zelensky,
if not clear.
But he is, of course, right.
It is embarrassing.
No one denies
that, that it was an embarrassing leak.
But the main thing,
Wolf, is the importance
of what you just said.
That is this counter offensive.
That's what needs to go forward.
And the trust needs to be there.
I don't think this demonstrates
any lack of trust.
I think this is that
this was a clear mistake
on the part of the United States
and they tried to fix it
and now they just need to move forward.
You know, General Clark,
I want you to watch
what the Pentagon press
secretary, Brigadier General
Patrick Ryder, just told me
on this program. Watch this.
I can't speak to whether
that's true or not.
I will tell you that Secretary Austin
has conducted a large number of phone
calls, conducted a large amount
of outreach to our allies
and partners around the world
to discuss the matter
with them, to highlight
how seriously we are taking this issue
to include
several conversations
with his Ukrainian counterpart.
So, General Clark,
how does the United States right now
try to repair all of this
Well, you know, I do think that
it is a matter of strengthening
the relationship between the president.
I think it is, as President
Zelensky said, the White House
didn't tell them anything.
I think a couple of phone
calls will help.
But, Wolf, you have to understand,
there's always tension in relations
between allies,
and that's true in every war.
It's certainly true here.
The Ukrainians want more
than what the United States
has been willing to give.
And really,
to me, the greatest damage of the leak
is the fact that it leaked
that it shows
that there is something in the U.S.
system that's not trustworthy.
So if you're the Ukrainians
and you're really determined on
keeping the counteroffensive
that Ambassador Taylor
is talking about secret,
the last thing you want
is a leaky intelligence system
in the United States.
One on 21 year old airman
who has nothing to do with it
gets Joe Wicks
and can see all that information.
That's a real indictment of us.
And so I think we it's incumbent
upon us to do everything we can
from the White House
to repair that relationship.
So what does this mean? General Clark,
sorry for interrupting,
but what does this mean?
As the U.
U.
As Ukraine now
is preparing to launch
a major military counteroffensive,
presumably in the coming days,
I don't think there's anything in those
in the leak really about Ukraine
that wasn't known to the public.
Very short of artillery ammunition.
Been saying it for a year.
Don't have enough air defense.
Been saying it for a year.
Got a lot of equipment.
They got it.
There's nothing in there that's
that is in itself
that the Russians would say, oh, my God,
look at this.
Let's move our forces
and get ready for it.
That's not the kind of leak.
It is what it is, is it indicates
that when this counteroffensive unrolls
and the United States and Ukraine
are talking about sensitive issues
and the need for
an immediate reinforcement here,
this problem there,
maybe the Ukrainians can't be
as candid as they would like to be.
To me,
that's the real threat
that the leak poses.
It erodes
the ability of the military chiefs
to talk to each other,
the White House, to talk to Zelensky
and so forth.
That's the risk of this.
And that's what's really needs to be repaired.
All right.
General Clark, Ambassador Taylor,
as usual,
thank you very much to both of you.