It’s not clear if this is a misunderstanding, an attempt to make President Biden look bad or just a CNN screw up. This afternoon a CNN national security correspondent claimed on Twitter that a fellow CNN correspondent had been given an account of President Biden’s recent conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to an unnamed source, Biden had said a Russian invasion was virtually certain and that Kyiv could be ‘sacked.”

A Russian invasion is now virtually certain once the ground freezes, Biden said to Zelensky, a senior Ukrainian official told @mchancecnn. Kyiv could be “sacked," Russian forces may attempt to occupy it, “prepare for impact”, Biden said, according to this official.

— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) January 27, 2022

The actual report with those details was made on Jake Tapper’s show by reporter Matthew Chance:

A senior Ukrainian official says the Biden-Zelensky call ‘did not go well’ and Biden told Zelensky a Russian invasion is virtually certain warning the country should prepare for impact @mchancecnn reports pic.twitter.com/SzBxdRBSHc

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 27, 2022

But the official White House account of the call was very different and the White House specifically pushed back on the CNN report.

White House pushes back on what Ukrainian official told @mchancecnn https://t.co/07R0wErK8A

— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) January 27, 2022

Emily Horne is the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council and as you can see above, she’s directly refuting the CNN report. She does admit that Biden said an invasion in February was possible but seems to be denying the part about it being virtually certain. More pushback from the White House came via CNN’s own Jim Sciutto.

—>> WH on Biden-Zelensky call: “Anonymous sources are “leaking” falsehoods. President Biden said that there is a distinct possibility that the Russians could invade Ukraine in February. He has said this publicly and we have been warning about this for months…” 1/

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 27, 2022

In addition to the statement from Emily Horne, which basically repeated what she said on Twitter, Sciutto also got a specific denial about the word “sacked” being part of the conversation.

And this: “Also, no one said ‘sacked.’ The only person who should be ‘sacked’ is the anonymous source who is circulating an inaccurate portrayal of this conversation.” 3/

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 27, 2022

There’s no specific denial of the other quote attributed to Biden, i.e. “prepare for impact.” Unlike “sacked” that actually sounds like something Biden might say. And it’s really not that hard to believe Biden could have said something awkward since we all saw him say in a press conference last week that a “minor incursion” by Russia might not be a huge deal. But a spokesman for Zelensky is also denying the report by CNN:

Zelensky’s spokesperson about the call with Joe Biden: “Some reports regarding the content of the talks between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden have appeared on social media, citing the alleged ‘senior Ukrainian official’. These messages are completely false”. pic.twitter.com/Z3blRfCjw2

— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) January 28, 2022

With both sides denying the claims, I guess we’ll have to put this down to a CNN error for now.

Update: As you can see above, CNN deleted the tweet with the original report. The tweet was then reissued with a note that it was disputed by both sides.

Ukrainian official describes Biden-Zelensky phone call to @mchancecnn  NOTE: Since this report, WH & Zelensky spokesman have disputed official’s claims (see thread) pic.twitter.com/B2WV4ACL28

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 28, 2022

WH tells CNN “anonymous sources are ‘leaking falsehoods’. President Biden said that there is a distinct possibility” Russians could invade in February, not to “prepare for impact” https://t.co/hQUJFaY4w2

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 28, 2022