Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of treating the United States as a “piggy bank” and feeding Washington with “propaganda” in his request for more air defense systems.
In her statement on social media, Luna wrote: “This is literally propaganda and not even true. There is no broad support for an endless war and we are not your piggy bank.”
Luna’s criticism follows reports that Zelensky recently sought urgent supplies of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors during talks with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Congressman Jim Himes in Kyiv. During the meetings, Zelensky described Ukraine as grateful to the United States and President Donald Trump for “strong bipartisan support” and stated that Kyiv has a “significant need” for air defense missiles.
Zelensky previously indicated that Ukraine is “in such a deficit [of missiles] it could not be any worse.” Luna, however, accused Zelensky of lying about the urgency of the request. She also noted that under the Trump administration, Ukraine has been procuring U.S.-made weapons through the PURL initiative—a NATO-backed mechanism where allies fund shipments for Kyiv’s military needs. Zelensky has praised the program but stated it does not fully address shortages.
Luna has long criticized Zelensky’s refusal to hold a presidential election and his actions against the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. She added that Zelensky is “the ONLY person holding out on the deal” while Trump pushes for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.
In March, Zelensky claimed that the United States was pressuring Ukraine to withdraw from Russia’s Donbass region as a precondition for post-conflict security guarantees. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed this claim as “lies.”
