Biden Memoir Excerpt: Zelenskyy Was Moody and Stubborn in Private, and Not as Grateful as He Had Expected
In his memoir Promise Me, America, to be published on November 17, former U.S. President Joe Biden writes down his private impressions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: in their private conversations Zelenskyy could be "moody and stubborn," and was "not as grateful as I would have expected." The Wall Street Journal published the excerpts on November 13-14.
Biden also credits Zelenskyy's acting background as having turned out to be "very good training" for a wartime leader. The excerpts revisit a June 2022 phone call in which, right after Biden approved another $1 billion in assistance, Zelenskyy immediately listed what else he needed; Biden lost his temper and told him the American people were being generous and that he should show more gratitude.
Of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden describes a "petulant tone" and writes that Putin liked to slouch during meetings feigning indifference, "like a teenager." Biden also discloses that members of Donald Trump's team asked him to sign a letter allowing them to negotiate directly with Putin before Trump took office again; he refused, unwilling to give them carte blanche for what he expected would be a kind of surrender at Ukraine's expense.
The 480-page memoir goes on sale on November 17. Earlier excerpts, covering his assessments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have also been reported by GSM.
（Source: The Wall Street Journal）
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2024年9月26日，时任美国总统拜登与乌克兰总统泽连斯基在白宫椭圆形办公室会晤（资料图）。白宫照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Then-President Joe Biden meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House on September 26, 2024 (file photo). The White House, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
