Kudlow Knocks Zelensky’s ‘Unseemly’ Decision to Drop Push to Join NATO: ‘A Semi-Surrender’ to Putin
Fox Business anchor Larry Kudlow panned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying he would no longer seek NATO membership for Ukraine while the country remains at war with the invading Russian military.
Kudlow joined Sandra Smith on Tuesday to talk about President Joe Biden’s ban on Russian oil imports, and the conversation shifted toward the new interview Zelensky gave to ABC News’ David Muir. On the subject of NATO, Zelensky said “I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that…NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia.”
“I never wanted to be a country that is begging something on its knees,” Zelensky said. “We are not going to be that country and I don’t want to be that president.”
The comments mark a shift in Zelensky’s push for Ukraine to become part of NATO, which has been one of the underlying political subjects behind Russia’s hostility towards the country. Kudlow called the development “a very big thing, and that kind of pulls the rug out from a lot of the Western rationale here.”
“I find him moving backwards, I find it unseemly to the point of annoying because we have argued from Day One…that we were trying to preserve their sovereignty, but also their freedom to choose democracy or Putin,” Kudlow said. “And if he’s saying they are going to give up aspirations to get into NATO, then you have to ask yourself, why are we fighting?”
Kudlow went on by saying “I found this troubling, much as I admire Zelenskyy and his courage. He’s been a great figure, a Churchillian figure as some people say. This is kind of a semi-surrender. I don’t think it’s going to stop Putin in the short run. It may actually encourage Putin who says he has Zelensky on the run. So, I don’t understand this point at all.”
Kudlow concluded by calling Zelensky’s remarks “a slippage,” adding “I’m not here to criticize him. I’m just saying statements like that change the game, so we should keep an eye on that.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
