Zelensky is planning to visit the White House today: CNN analyzes the visit
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy will visit the White House to present a “victory plan” to Biden and Harris. The visit may be the last chance to convince the American president of Ukraine's military goals before the 2024 elections, CNN reports.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit the White House today and plans to present a "victory plan" in separate meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, CNN writes, analyzing the visit, UNN reports.
Details
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the White House on Thursday may be his last chance to convince a receptive American president of his country's military goals. The exact details of the 'victory plan' that Zelenskiy plans to present in separate meetings to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unknown, as they have been kept secret until they are presented to American leaders," the newspaper writes.
But, according to people briefed on its general outline, "the plan reflects the Ukrainian leader's urgent calls for more immediate help in countering Russia's invasion." "Zelenskiy is also prepared to push for long-term security guarantees that could withstand changes in American leadership" ahead of the expected presidential election between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
It reportedly includes a repeated request for permission to strike deeper into Russian territory with long-range weapons provided by the West. "Even if Biden decides to allow long-range strikes, it is unclear whether the policy change will be publicly announced," the newspaper notes.
"Biden is usually slow to make decisions about providing Ukraine with new opportunities. But with the November election potentially heralding a significant change in the American approach to war if Trump wins, Ukrainian officials - and many in the United States - believe there is no time to waste," the article says.
Trump's latest comments, as noted, "lent new weight to Thursday's Oval Office talks, according to U.S. and European officials, who described the need for a sharp increase in aid to Ukraine while Biden is still in office.
During Zelenskiy's visit, the US is expected to announce a major new security package. On Wednesday, the US announced a $375 million package.
The US president announced Zelenskyy's visit to the White House the day before, saying on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that his administration was "determined to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to win its fight for survival.
"Tomorrow I will announce a number of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine's military, but we know that Ukraine's future victory is not only about what happens on the battlefield, but also about how Ukrainians make the most of the free and independent future for which they have sacrificed so much," he said.
"Zelenskyy's separate meeting with Harris on Thursday, to be held after the Ukrainian leader wraps up his conversation with Biden, indicates his desire to further develop what could be his most important relationship between leaders if she wins," the publication notes.
The vice president's meeting with Zelenskiy on Thursday will be their sixth since the war began in February 2022.
In the weeks since taking over the political baton from Biden, Harris and her aides, the newspaper writes, have gone to great lengths to insist that there are no differences between the vice president and the president on major foreign policy issues. Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine is no exception, they say, insisting that Ukraine will continue to enjoy unwavering U.S. support against Russian aggression under a Harris presidency.
"Advisers to the vice president say Trump's public statements about the war in Ukraine could not have made clearer the sharply divergent foreign policy views of the vice president and the former president. (Trump seems unlikely to talk to the Ukrainian leader, despite saying last week that they would 'probably' meet)."
At the same time, the publication points out that "even the Biden administration quietly acknowledges that any assurances Zelenskyy may receive from Biden and Harris this week about the US commitment to support Ukraine may be useless under a different US president.
During the signing of a new defense treaty between Ukraine and the United States on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Italy in June, Zelenskyy was asked what contingency plan he might have for such a scenario.
"If the people are with us, any leader will be with us in this struggle for freedom," Zelensky replied.
