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Biden to announce shipment of Patriot missiles to Ukraine during Zelensky's visit to Washington

2022-12-21T17:41:31.931Z


The Ukrainian president travels abroad for the first time since the start of the war. In addition to meeting his White House counterpart, he will give a speech on Capitol Hill


The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will take advantage of the visit to Washington of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, to announce an additional military assistance package to kyiv of 2,000 million dollars (1,800 million euros).

Beyond financial aid, the most symbolic commitment will be the shipment of a battery of long-range Patriot missiles, a weapon with which the United States had so far resisted contributing to Ukraine's defensive efforts against the Russian invasion despite that the Ukrainian leader insistently demanded it to face the Russian attacks.

This is Zelensky's first trip abroad since the war began on February 24.

Both leaders will meet in the early afternoon at the White House, and, after a meeting in the Oval Office, they will offer a joint press conference.

Afterwards, the Ukrainian president will go to the Capitol, where he plans to address Congress in a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The congressmen are studying these days, before the Democrats lose the majority of the Upper House, the approval of an omnibus law with dozens of budgetary provisions, among which is financial assistance to Ukraine of almost 45,000 million dollars (42,400 million of euros).

“Patriot missiles will be a critical asset in defending the Ukrainian people from Russia's barbaric attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure.

We will train the Ukrainian forces on how to use them.

This will take some time,” a senior White House official explained on Tuesday night in a call with reporters in Washington who asked to remain anonymous.

He did not clarify how long such training will take, nor how such a delay may affect the efforts of the Ukrainian army at a time of increasing intensity in the Russian offensive and in the midst of a dreadful winter.

The official added that the US intention is to continue “prioritizing other forms of air defense support as well, including NASAMS, HAWK [missiles], stingers, and anti-drone systems.”

The news of the visit was reported by the US media late on Tuesday afternoon.

The official confirmation was made to wait.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Zelensky posted the following message on his Twitter account: “[I am] on my way to the United States to build Ukraine's resilience and defense capabilities.

In particular, @POTUS [username on President Biden's social network] and I will discuss cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.

I will also have a speech in Congress and a series of bilateral meetings.”

With these meetings, the Ukrainian leader was referring to the conversations that he has organized with the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties at the Capitol.

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.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022

In what seemed like an indication that the communication of the trip was a coordinated transatlantic effort that was watered down by the media, at the same time as Zelensky's announcement on Twitter, the White House sent out a statement signed by the press secretary, Karine Jean- Pierre, in which he linked the invitation to Biden's desire to "underscore America's enduring commitment to Ukraine."

The fact that Zelensky is going to address both chambers is proof, for Jean-Pierre, of a "strong bipartisan support", which remains "300 days after [they met this Tuesday]" from the start of the "brutal assault" From Russia.

So far, Democrats and Republicans have generally been in favor of assisting kyiv: in these eight months they have approved $65 billion worth of aid.

But lately, that compact bloc has begun to crack as some voices voiced signs of impatience on the conservative side.

One of those signals was issued by California Republican Kevin McCarthy, who is emerging as the new speaker of the House of Representatives to replace the veteran Nancy Pelosi, who has already announced her withdrawal from the front line of politics.

McCarthy said in an interview with the digital

Punchbowl News

(precisely, the medium that first announced the news of Zelenski's visit): “I think that in the middle of the looming recession, people are not willing to write a blank check to Ukraine.

They just won't... It's not a free blank check.”

The Republican criticized that, in his opinion, Biden neglects the crisis on the border with Mexico to focus his efforts on curbing the expansionist desires of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can't be the only thing they do and it can't be a blank check,” he added.

All in all, the senior official wanted, in his call with journalists from Washington, to unlink the Ukrainian leader's high-risk trip to the United States from an attempt to pressure Republicans in person to vote in favor of the new budget item in the Congress.

“This is not about sending a message to a particular political party, it is about sending a message to Putin and making it clear to the world that the United States will be there for Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the source said.

Zelenski already addressed members of the Capitol last March, in a video message in which he invoked the great collective traumas of the United States, the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II. World Cup, to ask for more military aid.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-12-21

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