Biden welcomed Zelenskyy to the Oval Office, saying the US and Ukraine would proceed to venture a “united defence” as Russia wages a “brutal assault on Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation.”
Pressed on how Ukraine would attempt to convey an finish to the battle, Zelenskyy rejected Biden’s framing of a “just peace,” saying, “For me as a president, ‘just peace’ is no compromises.”
He mentioned the struggle would finish as soon as Ukraine’s sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity have been restored, in addition to the “payback for all the damages inflicted by Russian aggression.”
“There can’t be any ‘just peace’ in the war that was imposed on us,” he added.
Ukrainians insist ‘Putin will not steal our Christmas’
The extremely delicate journey was going down after 10 months of a brutal struggle that has seen tens of hundreds of casualties on each side and devastation for Ukrainian civilians.
Zelenskyy’s go to was meant to reinvigorate assist for his nation within the US and world wide, amid issues that allies are rising weary of the expensive struggle and its disruption to international meals and vitality provides.
Just earlier than his arrival, the US introduced a $1.8 billion navy support package deal for Ukraine, together with for the primary time Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and Congress deliberate to vote on a spending package deal that features about $45 billion in emergency help to Ukraine.
The two leaders appeared to share a heat rapport, laughing at every others’ feedback and patting one another on the again all through the go to, although Zelenskyy made clear he’ll proceed to press Biden and different Western leaders for ever extra assist.
He mentioned that after the Patriot system was up and operating, “we will send another signal to President Biden that we would like to get more Patriots.”
“We are in the war,” Zelenskyy added with a smile, as Biden chuckled on the direct request. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Biden mentioned it’s “important for the American people, and for the world, to hear directly from you, Mr President, about Ukraine’s fight, and the need to continue to stand together through 2023.”
After the White House assembly, the Ukrainian president traveled to Capitol Hill, the place he was scheduled to provide an deal with to Congress that he billed as a “speech to Americans.” Vice President Kamala Harris was planning to attend.
Zelenskyy headed overseas after making a daring and harmful journey Tuesday to what he known as the most well liked spot on the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) entrance line of the struggle, the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province. He praised Ukrainian troops for his or her “courage, resilience and strength” as artillery boomed within the background.
Poland’s non-public broadcaster, TVN24, mentioned Zelenskyy crossed into Poland early Wednesday on his solution to Washington. The station confirmed footage of what gave the impression to be Zelenskyy arriving at a prepare station and being escorted to a motorcade of American SUVs. TVN24 mentioned the video, partially blurred for safety causes, was shot in Przemysl, a Polish border city that has been the arrival level for a lot of refugees fleeing the struggle.
Officials, citing safety issues, have been cagey about Zelenskyy’s journey plans, however a US official confirmed that Zelenskyy arrived on a U.S. Air Force jet that landed at Joint Base Andrews, simply exterior the capital, from the Polish metropolis of Rzeszow.
Biden instructed Zelenskyy, who wore a combat-green sweatshirt and boots throughout their Oval Office assembly, that “it’s an honor to be by your side.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her invitation to Zelenskyy to talk to lawmakers, mentioned “the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself” and that they have been wanting ahead to “hearing your inspiring message of unity, resilience and determination.”
US and Ukrainian officers have made clear they don’t envision an imminent decision to the struggle and are getting ready for combating to proceed for a while. The newest infusion of US cash can be the most important but – and exceed Biden’s $37 billion request.
Biden has repeated that whereas the U.S. will arm and prepare Ukraine, American forces is not going to be immediately engaged within the struggle.
Biden and Zelenskyy first mentioned the concept of a go to throughout a phone name on Dec. 11, with a proper invitation following three days later, in response to a senior U.S. administration official. Zelenskyy accepted the invitation on Friday and it was confirmed on Sunday, when the White House started coordinating with Pelosi to rearrange the congressional deal with.
The White House consulted with Zelenskyy on safety, together with the chance of Russian motion whereas he was briefly overseas, mentioned the official, who declined to element the measures taken to safeguard the Ukrainian chief. The official briefed reporters on the situation of anonymity due to the delicate nature of the go to.
The newest U.S. navy support package deal will embrace not solely a Patriot missile battery however precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officers mentioned. It represents an growth within the sorts of superior weaponry supposed to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses in opposition to what has been an rising barrage of Russian missiles.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has mentioned the supply of the superior surface-to-air missile system can be thought-about a provocative step and that the system and any crews accompanying it will be a reliable goal for Moscow’s navy.
“It’s a defensive system,” Biden mentioned of sending the missile system. “It’s not escalatory – it’s defensive.”
It was unclear when the Patriot battery would arrive on the entrance traces in Ukraine, on condition that US troops should prepare Ukrainian forces. The coaching, anticipated to be finished in Germany, may take a number of months, the Pentagon mentioned Wednesday.
The go to comes at an necessary second, with the White House bracing for better resistance when Republicans take management of the House in January and provides extra scrutiny to assist for Ukraine. GOP chief Kevin McCarthy of California has mentioned his social gathering is not going to write a “blank check” for Ukraine.
Biden and Zelenskyy regularly have talked by telephone, with Biden praising Ukraine for remaining steadfast in opposition to the Russians and Zelenskyy thanking the US president for assist.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the chamber’s session by saying that passage of the help package deal and affirmation of the brand new US ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, would ship a powerful sign that Americans stand “unequivocally” with Ukraine. Tracy was confirmed afterward a 93-2 vote.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, mentioned Zelenskyy arrives not solely as a president however an “ambassador to freedom itself.”
The Senate’s prime Republican, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, mentioned “the most basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical American interests.” He mentioned “defeating Russia’s aggression will help prevent further security crises in Europe.”
Russia’s invasion, which started February 24, has misplaced momentum. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia stay fiercely contested.
With the combating within the east at a stalemate, Moscow has used missiles and drones to assault Ukraine’s energy gear, hoping to go away individuals with out electrical energy as freezing climate units in.
In a video launched by his workplace from the Bakhmut go to, Zelenskyy was handed a signed Ukrainian flag and alluded to delivering it to US leaders. “We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough,” he mentioned. “It is a hint – it is not enough.”
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center assume tank, mentioned Zelenskyy’s go to to the U.S. “should determine the course of the war – Zelenskyy for the first time dared to leave Ukraine and is counting on being able to maintain, and possibly even strengthen, US military and economic assistance.”
Hanna Danylovych, 43, who lives in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and works as a scientist, welcomed the prospect of further navy provides, saying “there is a great desire and dream to speed up the removal of Russian evil from our land.”
Putin on Wednesday instructed his nation’s navy leaders that Russia will obtain its acknowledged targets in Ukraine and use the fight expertise to strengthen its navy. His defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, mentioned Russia’s navy have to be expanded from the present 1 million to 1.5 million through the combating in Ukraine.
