Zelenskyy: US aid freeze did not affect situation in Russia's Kursk Oblast

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the pause in US intelligence sharing did not contribute to the worsening position of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast.

The suspension of US military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine coincided with Russia's rapid advances in Kursk Oblast. However, Zelenskyy refused to blame the Trump administration and its decision to freeze support for Ukrainian forces.

"It’s not connected. Don’t get me wrong. The state of morale always depends on whether your partners are standing beside you. But I wouldn’t say that the freeze influenced the operation in Kursk," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Time. 

Zelenskyy also dismissed as false Trump’s claims that Ukrainian forces had supposedly been encircled in Kursk Oblast. Trump made the statement after a phone conversation with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy expressed concern that US officials had begun taking Putin's words at face value, even when their own intelligence contradicted Putin's statements.