Zelensky to meet Biden in Washington in push for more aid

Ukrainian president’s visit next week coincides with the United Nations General Assembly.

Volodymyr Zelensky marks Tank Troops Day in Kyiv on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to travel to Washington next week for meetings with President Joe Biden and U.S. lawmakers as he pushes for additional aid for his war-torn country, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zelensky is scheduled to travel to the U.S. for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will appear in person for the first time since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, to make a case for continued support of Ukraine and isolation of Moscow. Following the summit, he is expected to continue on to Washington, the people said. The White House declined to comment.

The Biden administration has asked Congress for $US24 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine. While Kyiv enjoys bipartisan support in Congress, some conservative House lawmakers have raised concerns about continuing to send aid to Ukraine, as has former president Donald Trump, the presumptive front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination. That proposed assistance is caught up in a broader fight among House Republicans over funding the government. So far, the U.S. has sent Ukraine more than $US40 billion worth of weapons and equipment.

Next week’s trip will mark Zelensky’s second visit to Washington since the start of the war. He spoke to Congress and met with Biden at the White House in December. Biden made a surprise trip to Ukraine in February and has had frequent conversations with Zelensky.

A majority of Americans support U.S. efforts to assist Ukraine, but views are divided sharply by political party, a Wall Street Journal poll last month found.

Some 51% in the survey said the U.S. was doing about the right amount or should be doing more to help Ukraine, while 38% said the U.S. was doing too much.

But among Republicans, 62% said the U.S. was doing too much, compared with 41% of independents and 14% of Democrats who said so. By contrast, 77% of Democrats said the U.S. was doing the right amount or should do more.

In an interview Sunday with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Zelensky offered his gratitude to Biden and the U.S. Congress for ongoing efforts to arm Ukraine’s Armed Forces, while offering a plea for more advanced, long-range missile systems, including ATACMS, to help Ukraine through the current, grueling counteroffensive. Zelensky was referring to the Army Tactical Missile System, a long-range missile system.

“What we need, long-distance weapon systems, long-distance artillery, rounds, systems, et cetera. Everybody speaks about ATACMS. It’s very important. Everybody speaks about the jets, for example, in the sky. It’s very important,” he said. “I will speak with President Biden again. It’s not the first dialogue. So, we are moving.” Zelensky said that he hopes the West recognizes that the blood that is spilled by Ukrainians isn’t for “our values, common values; not our war, common war.” “People in the West have to feel it,” he added. “And you can choose.” The U.S. and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a trans-Atlantic military alliance, have continued to provide more advanced, long-range missile and air defense systems to help Ukraine breakthrough Russian lines, but efforts to successfully advance south and break Russia’s land bridge that stretches along the Black Sea coast to Crimea have fallen short.

Concern in the U.S. and Europe over the potential for a frozen conflict has soared in recent weeks as Ukrainian forces take heavy casualties and make very modest gains in the current slow-moving counteroffensive.

The Wall Street Journal