Former U.S. President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy capricious, stubborn, and less grateful than he had expected in his memoirs. At the same time, the politician shared his personal impressions of communicating with Russian dictator vladimir putin and explained why he refused Donald Trump’s team permission to negotiate with the kremlin before the inauguration, UNN writes.
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Biden noted that Zelenskyy’s acting background had been good preparation for the role of leading the country during wartime. However, personal interactions with the Ukrainian president left him with mixed impressions.
In our private conversations, Zelenskyy could be capricious and stubborn, and not as grateful as I expected
What Biden said about putin and Trump’s team
In his memoirs, the former American president also described vladimir putin’s behavior during personal meetings. According to him, the Russian leader often spoke in an irritated tone and demonstratively slouched in his chair, feigning indifference like a teenager.
Biden separately mentioned the events following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. According to him, representatives of Trump’s team asked him to sign a letter that would allow them to begin direct negotiations with putin even before the inauguration.
However, Biden refused because he feared that such negotiations could lead to concessions to russia at Ukraine’s expense. He explained that he did not want to give Trump’s team unlimited authority to take actions that, in his view, could result in Ukraine’s de facto surrender.