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Biden: Zelensky 'Didn't Want to Hear' Warnings about Invasion

US President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Port of Los Angeles, during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Port of Los Angeles, during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Biden: Zelensky 'Didn't Want to Hear' Warnings about Invasion

US President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Port of Los Angeles, during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Port of Los Angeles, during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US, June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Joe Biden said Friday that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "didn't want to hear" American warnings ahead of Russia's invasion of his country.

"I know a lot of people thought I was exaggerating," Biden said at a fundraising reception in Los Angeles, referring to his forewarning of the possibility of a Russian attack.

"But I knew we had data to sustain (the assessment)," he added in front of reporters.

"(Russian President Vladimir Putin) was gonna go into the border. And there was no doubt, and Zelensky didn't want to hear it, nor did a lot of people. I understand why they didn't want to hear it, but he went in."

The United States began raising the alarm over Russia's preparations for an invasion of Ukraine well before Putin announced the "special operation" against the country on February 24.

The warnings were met with disbelief and even veiled criticism from some European allies, who at the time felt the United States was being too alarmist.

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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)

The number of injured from an explosion Saturday at a port in southern Iran jumped to 281, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran’s National Emergency Organization, as giving the figure.
The blast happened at the Rajaei port just outside of Bandar Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for Iran that handles some 80 million tons (72.5 million metric tons) of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers (miles) away from the epicenter of the explosion, The Associated Press said.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet. Industrial accidents happen in Iran, particularly at its aging oil facilities that struggle for access to parts under international sanctions. But Iranian state TV specifically ruled out any energy infrastructure as causing or being damaged in the blast.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, told Iranian state TV that first responders were trying to reach the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
Hasanzadeh said the blast came from containers at Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State TV also reported there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though there were no immediate other details offered.
Rajaei port is some 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.
The blast happened as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.