White House prepares for Zelensky visit on Wednesday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will pay a visit to Washington on Wednesday, using his first trip outside his homeland since it was invaded 300 days ago to rally his top international partner in support of sustained military and economic assistance. .

He will visit the Oval Office in the afternoon for extended talks with US President Joe Biden, who will announce he is sending nearly $2 billion in additional security assistance to Ukraine, including a sophisticated new air defense system. The two will hold a press conference at the White House before Zelensky addresses members of Congress on Capitol Hill in prime time.

The Ukrainian leader’s visit to Washington, scheduled to last just a few hours, represents a watershed moment 10 months after Russia’s war in Ukraine began.

Brought together quickly by U.S. and Ukrainian officials over the past 10 days, the wartime visit is meant to thrillingly demonstrate America’s continued commitment to Ukraine at a time when Biden’s ability to maintain that support at home and abroad is being tested.

“(Biden) will reinforce the fundamental message on this trip to President Zelensky directly – to the Ukrainian people, to the American people and to the world publicly – that the United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” a senior administration official said.

Biden first discussed the prospect of Zelensky visiting Washington during a Dec. 11 phone call with the Ukrainian leader, an administration official said. A formal invitation was extended a week ago and Zelensky accepted, launching joint consultations on the security parameters of the risky and top secret trip.

Zelensky, who the official said was “very eager” to visit the US, determined that those parameters met his needs and the US began working to enforce them. The trip was finally confirmed on Sunday (18).

US officials declined to provide additional details about security arrangements ahead of the trip, including whether Zelensky flew aboard a US military plane out of the country. Transit in and out of the country has been extremely difficult. Western leaders who visited Kiev last year took a long train journey from Poland.

“It’s something we’ve wanted to do for some time,” the administration official said, noting that it came 300 days after Russia began its invasion in February. Still, the official said that “there is no mathematical formula for the right day for President Zelensky to make his first trip out of the country” and neither the US nor Zelensky would be deterred from making travel decisions by Russia’s actions.

“Russia will continue to do what Russia does and we will continue to do what we do. And that should not be deterred from our support for Ukraine, and for us and Zelensky not to be deterred from traveling as he sees fit to further the interests of his people,” the official said.

When Zelensky arrives at the White House, he will meet for lengthy talks with Biden, along with key members of the US national security team. The official said Biden and Zelensky would engage in an “in-depth strategic discussion about the way forward on the battlefield,” along with the training and capabilities Western partners are providing Ukraine, the sanctions they have imposed on Russia, and assistance. economic and energy security for the Ukrainian people.

Over the course of the 10-month invasion, Zelensky emerged as the international embodiment of Ukrainian resistance and spent much of the year pleading with the nations for support. He remained inside his country during the war, a reflection of both his desire to join the side of his beleaguered country and the precarious security situation he would face outside Ukraine.

As the war approaches its one-year anniversary, however, international support for Ukraine is being tested. Sanctions against Moscow have contributed to rising energy prices, particularly in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. In the United States, the Republicans who are about to take control of the House of Representatives have signaled that they will not quickly approve massive new aid packages for Ukraine.

On the battlefield, Ukraine retook key cities and showed unlikely resistance to an unprepared and ill-equipped Russian army. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has given no indication he plans to slow down and has been relentless in attacking civilian power infrastructure, bringing a degree of misery to Ukraine’s cold winter.

The moment seemed ripe for Zelensky to make a dramatic move like escaping Ukraine for the first time since the invasion began. For Biden, the visit represents an opportunity to reinforce his convictions in support of Ukraine, even as the war progresses.

“We know that in the coming days the conflict will continue,” said the senior government official. “Winter will be difficult and we will continue day after day to provide critical support to the Ukrainian people.”

The new $1.8 billion package Biden will unveil includes a Patriot surface-to-air missile system, which has been a long-standing request from Ukraine to defend against Russian air strikes. THE CNN was the first to report that the US should ship Patriot systems to Ukraine.

Unlike smaller air defense systems, Patriot missile batteries need much larger crews, requiring dozens of people to operate them properly. Training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes several months, a process the United States will now undertake under the pressure of near-daily Russian airstrikes.

The official said US troops would train Ukrainians to use the system in a third country. THE CNN previously reported that the training would take place at a US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

The system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as some aircraft. Due to its long-range and high-altitude capability, it can shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their targets inside Ukraine.

Russia has warned of unspecific “consequences” if the US supplies Patriot missiles to Ukraine, seeing the shipments as further US involvement in the war. The official made it clear, however, that Biden remained steadfast in keeping the United States out of direct conflict with Russia, despite heightened security assistance.

“The President has made it very clear that we will move forward and be robust in our support for Ukraine on the military, economic, energy and humanitarian fronts, but we are not seeking a direct war with Russia. And nothing about that will change tomorrow,” the official said.