Zelenskyy confirmed his most famous quote. I got pushback for reporting it.

Washington — Back successful February, conscionable aft American forces captured erstwhile Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and days earlier the United States would footwear disconnected its warfare with Iran, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed for the archetypal clip that helium had uttered possibly the best-known enactment attributed to him astir the warfare against Russia: "I request ammunition — not a ride." 

In a code marking 4 years since the full-scale Russian penetration had begun, the embattled president recounted that arsenic Russian forces were closing in, the U.S. offered to evacuate him. That enactment was his response. Zelenskyy told Ukrainians helium had said it "not due to the fact that we are each fearless oregon made of steel…but [that] connected immoderate invisible level, each of america cognize that we person nary different Ukraine, that this is our home."  

Today, the warfare has settled into a grinding struggle of attrition defined by drone warfare, long-range rocket strikes, World War I-esque entrenched warring positions, precocious casualty counts and mounting economical unit connected some sides. No semipermanent bid colony appears close. But the warfare has besides defied immoderate aboriginal predictions that an outmanned Ukrainian subject would endure a swift defeat. 

In precocious February 2022, Zelenskyy's historical enactment became 1 of the astir often quoted remarks astir the penetration — contempt the information that aft I reported it, the Biden medication firmly denied Zelenskyy had ever made the comment.  

Still, the quote, which showed Zelenskyy's resoluteness and dashed immoderate anticipation Vladimir Putin whitethorn person harbored for a speedy takeover of Ukraine, became a warfare cry, appearing connected t-shirts and posters and successful countless societal media posts. 

Zelenskyy's defiance starkly differed from what had occurred months earlier, erstwhile a antithetic president — Ashraf Ghani — fled Afghanistan arsenic the Taliban rapidly swept up swaths of territory successful the summertime of 2021. And lone six years earlier, Ukraine had seen different president, Viktor Yanukovych, fly Ukraine for Russia, amid monolithic protests astir authorities corruption.

Despite the virality of the quote, what I retrieve astir is an aggravated Biden medication and adjacent a telephone from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, pushing backmost connected the reporting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives astatine the Bucharest B9 summit, held astatine the Cotroceni Presidential Palace successful Romania, connected May 13, 2026. Vadim Ghirda / AP

At the time, I was moving astatine the Associated Press, covering nationalist information issues connected the investigations team. After learning of the evacuation connection and quote, I notified my editor, Ron Nixon, who, similar me, is simply a Marine veteran. The AP's apical editors met to sermon whether the communicative could beryllium published connected the azygous root that I had. 

Among them was Julie Pace, the AP's erstwhile Washington bureau main who had been appointed enforcement exertion 5 months earlier. She made the telephone to publish, since the root was a elder U.S. quality authoritative with nonstop cognition of the conversation. 

The communicative went live precocious that night, a Friday, astatine 11:04 p.m. The satellite present knew that the Biden medication had offered to evacuate Zelenskyy from Kyiv arsenic invading Russian forces closed in connected Ukraine's superior pursuing a savage fusillade of airstrikes connected cities and subject bases astir Ukraine.  

Zelenskyy's reply: "The combat is here; I request ammunition, not a ride," according to a elder American quality authoritative with nonstop cognition of the conversation. 

The communicative and the punctuation instantly went viral. President Joe Biden instructed the U.S. State Department to merchandise up to an further $350 cardinal worthy of weapons from U.S. stocks to Ukraine, according to Reuters. 

In Franklin Foer's 2023 book, "The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future," Foer wrote astir the Associated Press study quoting Zelenskyy's refusal to evacuate Kyiv. He compared it to "a enactment that screenwriters mightiness conjure arsenic they ideate their adjacent blockbuster, and according to the medication it was apocryphia." 

He added, "Jake Sullivan's advisors considered asking for a correction, but ne'er bothered. A bully communicative that came astatine their disbursal was understandable successful the circumstances. If anybody deserved a small slack, it was Volodymyr Zelensky." 

He was incorrect astir that. Biden medication officials did privation a correction — and a retraction, if they could get it. 

As Friday nighttime rolled into aboriginal Saturday, Anna Johnson, the AP's new Washington bureau chief, received an aggravated telephone from a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. As is the lawsuit whenever a quality outlet receives pushback, I statesman re-checking my facts arsenic I knew them. The communicative and the punctuation were verbatim close successful the English translation — successful Ukrainian, it's "I request a weapon, not a taxi." 

I stayed up each night. The Washington Post fact-checked the punctuation successful March 2022 and reported that Biden medication officials expressed disorder astir the assertion and denied Zelenskyy was asked to permission Kyiv by the U.S. government. 

The Post quoted me: "I tin recognize wherefore they person been denying it. It makes them look bad."

The Post noted that galore quality outlets typically would not mention a single-source secondhand punctuation by different quality organization. But astatine 4:37 a.m. Saturday, hours aft the AP's communicative was posted, the Ukrainian Embassy successful Britain tweeted the quote, giving a root to different quality publications. 

Multiple quality outlets started to study the punctuation by greeting connected the East Coast. I retrieve what The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Zelensky's response…will astir apt spell down successful Ukrainian past whether helium survives this onslaught oregon not." 

By 9 a.m., we were connected different telephone with a spokesperson from the National Security Council. Angry astir Zelenskyy's punctuation and different communicative Nomaan Merchant, our quality reporter, was moving connected — a study astir a delay successful the intelligence the United States was sharing with Ukraine. 

I soon received a telephone to inquire if Sullivan could telephone me. I was stunned to perceive that a apical Biden advisor would privation to speech to me, but agreed. When Sullivan called, I was astatine location unclogging my toilet with a plunger. He pushed backmost connected the reporting and urged that I recheck my facts. 

I did. The facts did not change. After the call, I spoke to my exertion who wanted maine to fto my root cognize however overmuch pushback the Associated Press was receiving from the White House. I went backmost and checked my reporting again. No change. 

Sullivan told CBS News earlier this twelvemonth helium had thing further to add.

I sent an email to the National Security Council spokesperson astatine 1:50 p.m.

"I spoke to Jake and helium wanted maine to springiness him a telephone backmost aft I had gone backmost to treble cheque my facts. I called but determination was nary answer," I wrote. "The facts arsenic we recognize them person not changed but the 1 happening I don't rather recognize is wherefore the NSC is truthful upset implicit this punctuation erstwhile it seems similar the NSC has bigger issues to interest about? Thank you for your assistance and immoderate clarification you tin supply for the record." 

In March 2022, The Washington Post's information checker published an analysis connected whether the punctuation was existent and concluded that it was not casual to confirm. The AP neither corrected nor retracted the story.

Contacted for this story, the AP said they basal by it — maine too. A spokesperson for Zelenskyy did arsenic well. 

U.S. quality agencies were reviewing what they got incorrect connected Russia's penetration of Ukraine by June 2022. While the U.S. quality assemblage accurately predicted Russian President Vladimir Putin would bid an invasion, it underestimated Zelenskyy's resolve. 

In December 2022, the AP reported that Zelenskyy's quip denying to beryllium evacuated from Kyiv was the apical notable punctuation for 2022, according to a Yale Law School librarian's database of the astir notable quotations.