[News] Zelensky Will Meet With Biden in Washington and Address Congress, Officials Say

[FazzNoth]

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will meet with President Biden at the White House on Wednesday and later deliver a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress, a daring trip abroad intended to reaffirm American support for his country, White House officials announced late Tuesday night. 

“Three hundred days ago, Russia launched a brutal assault against Ukraine,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement confirming Mr. Zelensky’s trip to Washington. “The visit will underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance.”

Senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about Mr. Zelensky’s safety, said the risks involved in such a visit with the wartime leader leaving his country for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February were high, and that planning for his arrival had been conducted under intense secrecy.

Mr. Zelensky will arrive in the United States almost 10 months after President Vladimir V. Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine and as Congress considers approving nearly $50 billion in aid to help Ukraine’s forces battle Russia next year. That would bring the total amount of American aid to more than $100 billion.

 

“He’s a national and global hero I’m delighted to be able to hear from him,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, said Tuesday after hearing of Mr. Zelensky’s visit.

The Ukrainian president’s trip comes as Russia’s assault heads into a second, brutal year. Russia’s hopes for a quick defeat of Ukraine failed, but have given way to a series of grinding and devastating attacks on civilians that have left major cities without heat or electricity in the bitter cold of Ukraine’s winter.

During his meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House, Mr. Zelensky is set to accept the latest American pledge of military assistance: a highly sophisticated Patriot missile battery that senior administration officials said would provide Ukraine with far better defenses against air attacks from Russian missiles and drones. The missile battery will be part of a nearly $2 billion package of security assistance that will also include other support for Ukraine’s air defenses.

White House officials said the announcement of the new security package by the American president with Mr. Zelensky by his side was meant to send a powerful message to Mr. Putin and other world leaders, along with people in Ukraine and America, that Mr. Biden would not waver in his efforts to help Ukraine defeat its Russian aggressors.

In her statement Tuesday night, Ms. Jean-Pierre said the meeting of the two leaders would “underscore the United States’ enduring commitment to Ukraine” and was part of a continuing effort by Mr. Biden to rally “the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

A senior administration official said that Mr. Biden would not come to the meeting on Wednesday “with a message that is about pushing or prodding or poking Zelensky in any way” toward finding a diplomatic end to the war with Russia. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip had not been formally announced, said Russia had given no indication it was willing to engage in good-faith talks about ending the war.

But the official also said Mr. Biden would not allow the United States to be drawn into an active war with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf, a pledge the president had made before Russian forces entered Ukraine at the end of February.

After meeting with Mr. Biden and members of his national security team, Mr. Zelensky is expected to hold a news conference at the White House, officials said. He will then head to Capitol Hill for what is likely to be an electrifying appearance before a joint session of Congress as Democratic control of the House and the reign of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker nears its end.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/us/politics/zelensky-washington-biden-congress.amp.html