Beijing time, October 18, 2026, on a related interview program, host Welker repeatedly pressed whether the United States views Ukraine as an ally. Bessent responded that the U.S. provides material assistance to Ukraine, which is what is done for an ally, and that it provides none to Russia, but when further pressed on whether he explicitly acknowledged this, he did not give a direct affirmative answer.
According to an interview video posted by clashreport, in response to Zelensky's remarks that "if the US sides with Russia, Ukraine will not be able to win," host Welker asked whether the US president is standing on Russia's side. Bessent denied this, calling it a false dichotomy, and pointed out that the US has provided intelligence and Starlink support to Ukraine, and allowed NATO to purchase US weapons.
According to @clashreport, Bessent, speaking on the Russia issue, pointed out that the UK in May exempted the ban on diesel and jet fuel made from Russian crude oil, and questioned why there was no outrage over this practice in other parts of the world, while noting that Ukrainian President Zelensky had not criticized his European partners.
According to video footage posted by clashreport, when faced with Welker's questioning over "why lift sanctions on Russia now" and the president's failure to enforce the relevant sanction laws, Bessent explicitly denied it, stressing that no sanctions on Russia were lifted on Friday.