US president Joe Biden will unveil nearly $2bn (R35bn) in assistance and announce moves to deliver a Patriot missile battery to help Ukraine bolster its defences this winter as its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, arrived in Washington on Wednesday to deliver an in-person address to Congress.
The visit sees Zelenskyy leave Ukraine for the first time since Russia invaded in February and at a critical stage in the war. His country has faced a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks targeting Ukraine’s civilians and critical energy infrastructure in recent weeks, leading to power and water cuts.
The speech to Congress gives Zelenskyy the opportunity to personally appeal to US lawmakers to continue assistance for Ukraine even after Republicans, who have been more sceptical of Biden’s support for the country, take control of the House in January.
Zelenskyy has pleaded for more advanced weapons systems to blunt Russian attacks and for additional energy and economic support as civilians brace for a brutal winter ahead.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington will show “strong, bipartisan support for Ukraine”.
“The visit will underscore the US’s steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance,” Jean-Pierre said.
To that end, Biden will announce the additional aid package, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters, along with the Patriot air-defence system that can target aircraft and incoming missiles. The US will provide training on operating the system for Ukrainian forces in a third country. The official reiterated the US is not changing its policy on troops and that Ukraine will staff and operate the Patriot battery.
In their meeting, the two leaders will have the chance to discuss strategy on the battlefield, sanctions and export controls that are in place on Russia, as well as economic, energy sector and humanitarian assistance, according to the senior official.
The speech to Congress falls on the 300th day since Russia invaded Ukraine. Zelenskyy will be in the US for just a few hours, according to the senior administration official, who said the US consulted with him closely about his security requirements and ability to travel outside his country safely.
We have and need to have an obligation to help people defend themselves and fight for their own freedom.
— Republican leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell
Lawmakers are poised by the end of the week to send a $1.7-trillion (R29-trillion) fiscal 2023 spending bill to Biden that includes more than $45bn (R777bn) to aid Ukraine. But it is unclear if there will be substantial aid for Ukraine in the next Congress. House Republicans have vowed to more closely scrutinise Biden’s financial assistance to Ukraine next year.
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who is likely to be the next speaker, has said Ukraine will no longer receive a “blank check” from the US — and Biden, ahead of the November midterm elections, said he was “worried” Republicans would slash aid to the embattled country if they took control of Congress. Republicans are divided between younger conservative firebrands and more veteran lawmakers over their approach to Ukraine.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, mocked the news of Zelenskyy’s visit in a tweet Tuesday, writing: “Of course the shadow president has to come to Congress and explain why he needs billions of American’s taxpayer dollars for the 51st state, Ukraine.”
But in the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said he backs assistance for Kyiv. “We have and need to have an obligation to help people defend themselves and fight for their own freedom,” McConnell said on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy has addressed Congress before. In March, shortly after Russia’s invasion, he spoke to lawmakers by video link from the war zone. In that address to the US House and Senate, he implored lawmakers for immediate assistance and invoked parallels to the September 11 terrorist attacks and Pearl Harbor.
The senior administration official expressed confidence that support for Ukraine in the new Congress will be bipartisan and said Zelenskyy’s speech was not intended to send a message to any particular political party.
Biden’s announcement of a Patriot missile battery marks a significant escalation in US support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy has pressed the US for more advanced weapons systems to fend off the barrage of Russian air attacks. It is unclear how quickly the US will be able to deliver the Patriot battery to Ukraine or how long the training for Ukrainian forces would take.
The senior official said the US would continue to prioritise other forms of air defence for Ukraine, including NASAMS, Hawks, Stingers, and equipment to counter drones. The US has said Iran is providing drones to Russia.
Zelenskyy’s US visit follows a trip by Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday to Belarus, which allowed Russia to invade Ukraine from its territory. The Kremlin said the two leaders’ talks would focus on their “strategic partnership and alliance”.
National security council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday the US has no indications that Belarusian forces are becoming actively involved in the conflict but that Minsk continues to enable Putin’s war effort.
In an address on Tuesday night in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said it was critical for Ukraine to obtain more assistance as the country enters winter. “We will do everything possible and impossible, expected and unexpected, so that our heroes have everything they need to prevail,” he said. “This week is extremely important for Ukraine — to get through this winter and next year.”
2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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