Two US lawmakers face criticism after sharing pictures of virtual call with Zelenskyy

Two United States Senators Marco Rubio and Steve Daines shared pictures from US lawmakers' virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Both senators shared screenshots of the zoom meeting on Twitter along with captions indicating that they were on the call. The US lawmakers reportedly had been told to not share pictures of Zelenskyy on social media, however, the two senators posted pictures of the Ukrainian President on Twitter. US Representative Dean Phillips took to his official Twitter handle to criticise the two US Senators and called it "appalling and reckless behaviour."

US Representative Dean Phillips tweeted, "The Ukrainian Ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy. Appalling and reckless ignorance by two US Senators." In the two pictures shared on the microblogging site, Zelenskyy could be seen attending the virtual meeting in an army-green coloured t-shirt in front of a white wall. US Representative Jason Crow also criticised the lawmakers for sharing pictures of the meeting and called it a "lack of discipline in Congress." Crow noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had even told the US lawmakers to "keep quiet about a meeting."

Multiple aides told NBC News that the senators had been asked not to share or tweet pictures of the call while it was in progress. Meanwhile, the office of Senators Marco Rubio and Steve Daines defended the Senators' decision to tweet the pictures of Zelenskyy. The spokesperson for Rubio stated that more than 160 members of Congress attended the virtual meeting which was reported widely and there was "no identifying information of any kind." The spokesperson for Daines said that the picture about the meeting was posted before they were asked to not share the image and included "no identifying information."

Zelenskyy asks lawmakers to help in getting more warplanes

During the virtual call, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the American lawmakers to help Ukraine get more warplanes, according to AP. He urged US lawmakers to sanction Russian oil and gas sectors. He stressed that Ukraine needs to protect the sky through a no-fly zone that needs to be declared by NATO or through more warplanes. He told the US Senators that this might be the last time they will be seeing him alive. Following the call, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Zelenskyy has called on the US to help in sending more planes from Eastern European allies to Ukraine. 

Inputs from AP

Image: AP/Twitter/@SteveDaines