Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelensky was flying to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress, his first known trip out of the country since the Russian invasion began in February.
Revealing the trip through his Twitter account, Zelensky said Wednesday that the visit was “to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities” of Ukraine and discuss with Biden the cooperation between his country and the United States.
Biden and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that Zelensky’s visit confirmed that the United States will support kyiv “for as long as it takes.”
The trip comes after 10 months of a brutal war which has left tens of thousands dead and injured on both sides of the conflict and devastated cities in Ukraine.
Also this Wednesday the US Congress was scheduled to vote on a new aid package to Ukraine for $45 billion, just as the Pentagon prepares to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles into the country to defend against Russia.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin, has called a large meeting of the military in Moscow after admit an “extremely difficult” situation in the four annexed Ukrainian regions by Russia from the beginning of the invasion.
In the videoconference meeting, in which 15,000 officials must participate, Putin hopes to draw the conclusions of the past year and set the objectives of its Army for 2023the Kremlin said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will report on the “progress of the special military operation” in Ukraine at the meeting.
Zelensky was already received in the Oval Office by Biden in September 2021, when the US president promised to support the former Soviet republic in the face of the threat from Russia.
The scenario will be the same this Wednesday, although the environment will be very different: it will be the first personal meeting since the invasion of Russia that made Zelensky the leader of a country at war and Biden the commander of the Western response against Moscow.
During this visit, adjusted to security measures and lasting a few hours, the Ukrainian head of state will meet with Biden and his team at the White House and will offer a press conference afterwardsindicated a senior US official.
According to this source, who asked to remain anonymous, the US executive will unveil a new aid package of “almost 2,000 million dollars to Ukraine” that will include a Patriot surface-to-air missile systemreported the AFP news agency.
Ukraine He has been demanding this type of technology for a long time. to contain the offensive of the Russian troops that, after several setbacks at the front, are concentrating on bombing the country’s energy and military installations.
This strategy, branded as “barbaric” by this head of the White House, has left millions of Ukrainians without water, electricity or heating.
On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of ??. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between ?? and ??. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.
— Volodimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022
This official indicated that it will be necessary to train Ukrainian troops in handling this sophisticated weaponry, which will be done “in a third country” and “will take some time.”
After the White House, the Ukrainian President will address a joint session of the US Congresswhich includes the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Speech it will arrive hours before US lawmakers begin discussing, with a view to voting on, a new aid package massive to Ukraine, of almost 45,000 million dollars.
The reception comes shortly before the House of Representatives is due to be controlled by the Republican opposition, raising questions about future US support for Ukraine.
The senior US official indicated that the two heads of state discussed the visit in a telephone call on December 11 and that it was confirmed on Sunday.
USAby far the first kyiv donor, It provided, according to expert estimates, almost 50,000 million dollars of aid to the country, 20,000 of them in weapons and military assistance.
