NBC Report: President Biden lashed out at Zelensky over request for aid in June phone call

In a new report published on Monday, NBC revealed that United States President Joe Biden lost his temper with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy during a June phone call regarding US aid to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

Sources close to the White House told NBC that the June call took place just after Biden had announced the latest US aid package to Ukraine.

It is customary that the Ukrainian president and the US president speak via phone after an aid package is given, but in this particular phone call sources say Biden became slightly angry with Zelenskyy when the Ukrainian leader began listing further aid his country needed.

The four people who are familiar with the phone call say “Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting,” NBC reports.

The US president reportedly reminded Zelenskyy that he should show “gratitude” for the aid already sent, and for the United States’ generosity.

The sources say the two leaders’ have improved their communication since the June call, but sentiments in the Republican party over continuing aid to Ukraine are beginning to shift to a more fiscally conservative viewpoint.

The White House is preparing to request another huge aid package for Ukraine, and while a specific amount has not been named, GOP leaders have been vocal about their opinion, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying in October the United States cannot continue its “blank check” policy when it comes to Ukrainian aid.

McCarthy also warned that if Republicans take control of the Senate in the upcoming midterms, the US policy on aid to Ukraine will tighten.