Zelensky says he learned about the leaked Pentagon documents through the media

3 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has claimed that he learned of the leaked Pentagon documents — which included relevant information about military operations in Ukraine — through the media, and not from information from the Americans.

During an interview with the US newspaper ‘Washington Post’, Zelenski has claimed not to have had any conversation with Washington about these classified documents, leaked by a young worker from the Massachusetts Air National Guard and shared through a Discord chat.

“I did not receive any information from the White House or the Pentagon prior to (the information appearing in the media), we did not have that information, I personally did not have it,” he said, calling the incident “a bad story.”

Zelensky has assured that this whole situation “does not benefit us”, adding that “it does not benefit the reputation of the White House and I think it does not benefit the reputation of the United States.”

The president has recalled his part in the scandal with former US President Donald Trump, which in 2020 cost him his first impeachment process, after a year earlier their telephone conversations were leaked.

“I don’t know if it’s a manipulation or an accident, and why should I know? (…) Do you remember how our conversation with Trump was spread? They published it in the media. To be honest, I didn’t give my permission for that either” , has explained.

Still, he says Ukraine cannot afford to strain relations with the United States or any other allied country in the war against Russia, which it has claimed is its top priority and where foreign aid is still needed.