Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on his way to Washington on Wednesday for a summit with US President Joe Biden and to address Congress in his first known trip outside the country since Russia’s invasion began in February .
Zelenskyy said on his Twitter account that the visit was “to strengthen the resilience and defense capacity” of Ukraine and to discuss cooperation between his country and the US with Biden.
The highly sensitive trip comes after 10 months of a brutal war that has seen tens of thousands killed and injured on both sides of the conflict, along with devastation for Ukrainian civilians. It also comes as U.S. lawmakers are set to vote on a year-end spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and as the Pentagon prepares to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the country to defend – if
“The visit will underscore the firm commitment of the United States to support Ukraine for as long as necessary, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House in the afternoon and then join Biden for a news conference in the East Room. He was expected to address Congress in the evening.
In a pre-war visit to the US, Zelenskyy met with Biden in the Oval Office of the White House on September 1, 2021. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. (Doug Mills/Getty Images)
In her invitation to Zelenskyy to address a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that “the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself” and that the lawmakers “look forward to hearing your inspiring message of unity, resilience and determination.” Pelosi visited Zelenskyy earlier this year in Kyiv.
Biden and Zelenskyy first discussed the idea of a visit to Washington during their most recent phone call on Dec. 11, and a formal invitation followed three days later, a senior North administration official said -American, informing journalists on the condition of remaining anonymous due to sensitivity. nature of the visit.
The White House consulted with Zelenskyy about security for his departure from Ukraine and his trip to Washington, including the risk of Russian action while Zelenskyy was briefly out of the country, the official added, who did not elaborate on the measures taken to safeguard the Ukrainian leader. The official said the US expected Russia to continue its attacks against Ukrainian forces and civilian infrastructure targets despite the trip.
Patriot missiles are seen as an escalation by the Kremlin
The tranche of US funding pending before Congress would be the largest infusion of US assistance to Ukraine to date. The US was also due to announce on Wednesday that it will send a major $1.8 billion package of military aid to Ukraine that will include for the first time a battery of Patriot missiles and precision-guided bombs for its fighter jets, officials said americans
The aid marks an expansion by the US in the type of advanced weaponry it will send to Ukraine to bolster its air defenses against what has been an increasing barrage of Russian missiles in recent weeks.
In this 2017 image released by the US Department of Defense, German soldiers fire the Patriot weapons system at a NATO facility in Chania, Greece. Patriot missile systems have long been an important item for the United States and its allies in contested areas of the world as a coveted shield against incoming missiles. (US Department of Defense/The Associated Press)
Biden has reiterated that while the US will arm and train Ukraine, US forces will not be directly involved in the conflict.
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that increasing the supply of US weapons to Ukraine would exacerbate the devastating 10-month war in Ukraine, where President Vladimir Putin vowed Russia would achieve its goals.
Speaking during a meeting with his top military official, Putin said the country’s military should learn lessons and modernize from its experiences in Ukraine, and special emphasis would be placed on developing the forces his country’s nuclear weapons, which he described as “the main guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty”. .”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the same meeting that the Russian military must expand from its current size of one million personnel to 1.5 million service members, a number that would to include 695,000 volunteer soldiers by contract. He also said Russia would form new units in the west of the country in view of plans by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
The Patriots’ workout could last weeks
It is unclear exactly when the Patriot would arrive on the front lines in Ukraine, as US troops will have to train Ukrainian forces on how to use the high-tech system. The training could last several weeks and is expected to take place in Germany.
The visit comes at an important time as the White House prepares for greater resistance when Republicans take control of the House in January and have become more lukewarm on aid to Ukraine. Republican Kevin McCarthy has said his party’s lawmakers will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine.
WATCH Zelenskyy and Putin on Tuesday in different tones:
Putin admits Russia’s difficulties in eastern Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that things are not going well for the Russians in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his troops in and around the city of Bakhmut, where fighting is fierce.
Biden and Zelenskyy have spoken frequently by phone as the White House organizes new tranches of military assistance for Ukraine. The calls have been mostly warm, with Biden praising Ukraine for standing firm against the Russians and Zelenskyy thanking the US president for his support.
The only exception was a June phone call shortly after Biden notified Zelenskyy that an additional $1 billion package was headed to Ukraine. Zelenskyy didn’t miss a beat in flagging the additional assistance he said Ukraine needed.
This upset Biden, who stressed to Zelenskyy the generosity of the American people. But the brief moment of tension has not caused any lasting difficulties, according to officials familiar with the episode.
The invasion of Russia, which began on February 24, has lost momentum. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia remain fiercely contested.
With fighting in the east at a standstill, Moscow has used missiles and drones to attack power equipment in Ukraine, hoping to knock people out as freezing weather sets in.
Zelenskyy visited the battleground town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s disputed Donetsk province on Tuesday. He praised the Ukrainian troops for their “courage, resilience and strength” as artillery roared in the background.