Joe Biden ‘lost temper at Volodymyr Zelenskyy over ingratitude for US aid’

US President Joe Biden lost his temper with the Ukraine leader over US aid. Photo / AP

Joe Biden reportedly lost his temper and raised his voice on the phone with Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he “did not show enough gratitude” after the US president signed off on $1 billion worth of military assistance.

During a phone call in June, Biden turned testy when Zelenskyy began listing what else Kyiv needed and was not getting shortly after the US president announced the aid package, NBC News reported.

The commander-in-chief is said to have briefly lost his patience and reminded Zelenskyy that “the American people were being quite generous” and stressed that the White House and the US military were doing all they could to help Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The President’s frustrations were said to have been rising for weeks before the June 15 call, with Biden confiding to aides that he believed his administration was pulling out all the stops to help its ally, but that Zelensky continued to focus on what was not being done.

A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment on NBC’s story. A spokesman for Zelenskyy’s office also did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Relationship since improved’

The news organisation’s sources said the presidents’ relationship has improved since the tense exchange, with the White House poised to ask Congress for tens of billions of more aid for Ukraine in the new year.

Speaking about the announcement at the time, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said the US and Ukraine were “working in lockstep to meet Ukraine’s requests for new capabilities”. Included in the tranche were 18 howitzers, 36,000 rounds of howitzer ammunition and two Harpoon coastal defence systems.

Four months into the war and on the back foot, Ukrainian officials were pushing Washington for more heavy weaponry and expressed frustrations that munitions appear to be trickling into the fight piecemeal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo / AP

The US has been the most generous benefactor to Ukraine, with Congress allocating $65 billion ($111.5b) since Russia attacked the country in February.

However, there are fears the November 8 congressional elections could affect on future assistance.

Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader of California, who is poised to take over as speaker if the GOP wins a majority in the House, warned this week that his fellow party members were “not going to write a blank cheque to Ukraine”.