'I Need Ammunition, NOT A Ride!' Ukrainian President Blasts Biden
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told President Joe Biden 'I need ammunition, not a ride,' when offered the chance of a US-backed evacuation.
Zelensky said in response to the offer of refuge: 'The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,' according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described Zelensky as upbeat.
He spoke as Biden authorized the release of $350million of military assistance to Ukraine after taking his latest weekend break to Delaware as Russian troops began to invade Kyiv.
Invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine´s capital on Saturday, in an apparent encircling movement after a barrage of airstrikes on cities and military bases around the country.
A second Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine. Each of the two planes can carry up to 200 troops, although a death toll has not been shared.
Earlier, Zelensky said in a televised speech: 'This night they will launch an assault. The enemy will use all of their power on all fronts to break our defense. This night we have to stand ground. The fate of Ukraine is being decided now.'
This came after a video showed him in his military tent drinking coffee with his men, he personally coordinated the defense of Kyiv.
He spoke Saturday morning in Kyiv, having survived the night, and said: 'There's a lot of fake news online that I called on our army to lay down arms, & that there's evacuation. I'm here. We will defend our state.'
“There's a lot of fake news online that I called on our army to lay down arms, & that there's evacuation. I'm here. We will defend our state” President Zelensky@AP reports, when asked to evacuate Kyiv by the US he replied: “I need ammunition, not a ride”pic.twitter.com/8GbtLhOc98
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