US Senator Slams Elon Musk For Calling “Traitor” Over His Ukraine Journey
Washington:
A Democratic U.S. senator who simply visited Ukraine mentioned on Monday the Trump administration’s suspension of intelligence-sharing had lessened Kyiv’s defenses in opposition to Russia, and dismissed Trump advisor Elon Musk calling him a “traitor.”
“100%,” Senator Mark Kelly informed reporters when requested if he had heard throughout his go to of particular assaults or incidents that might have been affected if Ukrainians had had the intelligence.
“If there’s stuff they do not get, that they want, that modifications their skill to defend in opposition to assaults,” Kelly mentioned. “And people assaults occurred on Friday night time, on Saturday, once I was there.”
The Arizona senator didn’t present additional particulars.
Since Thursday, Ukrainian authorities have reported Russian assaults together with harm to Ukrainian vitality and fuel infrastructure, and an assault with missiles and drones wherein no less than 14 individuals have been killed and 37 wounded. Russia launched extra air strikes in a single day Monday on Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities mentioned.
Kelly, a member of the Armed Providers Committee, was in Ukraine from Saturday to Sunday to indicate assist for its individuals and assess the scenario there.
The Trump administration introduced final week that it had halted intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, piling stress on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump in convening peace talks with Russia.
That suspension adopted a halt to U.S. navy help to Kyiv after a White Home assembly the place Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who opposed help to Ukraine throughout his Senate time period, clashed publicly with Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy was in Saudi Arabia on Monday to satisfy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day earlier than talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officers that Washington hopes will ship substantial progress in direction of ending Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
Help for the federal government in Kyiv, as soon as one thing strongly supported by dozens of Trump’s Republicans in addition to Democrats, has develop into much more partisan since Trump started his second time period on January 20.
Democratic assist for Kyiv has stayed robust, however Republicans have wavered, with Republican Home of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson saying that there was “no urge for food” for an additional invoice funding help.
Underscoring the political divide, Musk referred to as Kelly a “traitor” on X.com, a social media platform Musk owns, after Kelly posted that he had visited Ukraine in the course of the weekend and accused Trump of attempting to weaken Ukraine forward of peace talks.
Kelly, a former astronaut who served as a fight pilot throughout a 25-year Navy profession, commented to reporters when requested about Musk, “Clearly, he is not a severe man.”
On X, Kelly had responded: “Traitor? Elon, in case you do not perceive that defending freedom is a primary tenet of what makes America nice and retains us protected, perhaps it’s best to depart it to these of us who do.”
Kelly’s journey was his third go to to Ukraine since 2023.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
