Time reported on the frosty relationship between Harris and Zelensky.

In February 2022, just days before the outbreak of a full-scale military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, US Vice President Kamala Harris rejected Kiev's offer to transfer weapons to her and impose preemptive sanctions against Moscow , Time reports.

The magazine describes Harris's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference on February 18–20, 2022. This meeting, according to Time, set the tone for the politicians' subsequent relationship, "which was never particularly warm."

Both sides then agreed that the outbreak of military action was inevitable, the magazine reports, citing former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. Zelenskyy called on the US to impose sanctions against Moscow, believing this would prevent fighting, and to transfer anti-aircraft systems, fighter jets, artillery, and other weapons to Kyiv. Harris rejected both proposals.

According to Time, the Ukrainian delegation was told that the US could not impose preemptive sanctions "because punishment could only follow a crime." Furthermore, the article notes, the US then considered the threat of sanctions a more effective deterrent than their implementation, and that transferring modern weapons to Kyiv could convince Russia that Ukraine was a client state (a country that receives support and protection from another, larger state) of NATO.

A White House spokesperson told Time that Harris "has been a strong advocate for continued U.S. support for Ukraine" and "has repeatedly expressed an unwavering commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine in their defense against Russia's brutal aggression."

Incumbent US President Joe Biden , who had promised to assist Ukraine as much as it needed, announced in July that he was withdrawing from the presidential race (elections will be held in November) and nominated Harris as the Democratic nominee. Donald Trump , who served as president from 2017 to 2021, will represent the Republican Party.