Ben Rhodes

How did it know how to find it?

Why wasn't it protected?

Why was it out in the open?

Over the weekend, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, told NBC News that it wasn't Iran that figured out where that vital U.S.

aircraft was sitting there unprotected.

It was Russia.

In an interview with NBC, Zelensky shared his own briefing from Ukraine intelligence.

It showed that Russian satellites had taken images of that airbase in Saudi Arabia not once, not twice, but three times in the week leading up to the strike that injured all those American troops and destroyed that critical plane.

Since the start of this war in Iran, we have seen report after report citing U.S.

officials and British officials, even German officials, all saying that Russia is helping Iran target U.S.

assets, helping Iran target and attack and kill and wound U.S.

troops.

So how is the United States roaring back at Russia for that?

How are we getting them to back off?

How are we making them pay for doing that?

Not at all.

We're not doing anything quite the opposite.

President Donald Trump has instead inexplicably twice cut sanctions on Russian oil.

And then this weekend, Trump decided to additionally give Russia a big new gift.

The U.S.