Ukrainian troops “prove every day that Ukraine can win against Russia,” Volodymyr Zelensky said
The Ukrainian president arrived at the White House in the early afternoon without any guarantees for his country in the war, despite long discussions in the American Congress.
“The American Congress must pass an extension for Ukraine (…) before making an offer [Vladimir] “Putin is the best Christmas present ever,” warned Joe Biden during a meeting with the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office.
Ukrainian troops “prove every day that Ukraine can win against Russia,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in this interview, brushing aside doubts expressed by some after a disappointing counteroffensive by his army this summer. These doubts were expressed in particular by the leader of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, whose camp is increasingly skeptical about new military aid to Kiev. “What the Biden administration appears to want is billions of additional dollars without proper oversight, without a real winning strategy,” the elected official claimed after his interview with the Ukrainian leader.
The head of the Democratic majority in the Senate, the other chamber of Congress, insisted on the challenges of aid to Ukraine. “If we lose, [Vladimir] “Putin will win, and it will be very dangerous for the United States,” Chuck Schumer said after his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and as Russia claimed “significant” military advances in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, visiting the American Congress for the third time since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, spoke on X of a “friendly and open” conversation with the senators.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden are scheduled to speak at a press conference scheduled for 4:15 p.m. local time (10:15 p.m. Paris time) after their meeting in the Oval Office. In theory, elected officials only have until Friday to agree on this $61 billion (56.5 billion euros). The White House has warned that it will “run out of money” by the end of the year if nothing is done.
Democrats support this new envelope. And the Republicans are not completely against it, but want to combine their support with a long-standing domestic policy demand: a significant tightening of the United States' immigration policy.
The Kremlin estimated Tuesday that any new American aid would be doomed to a “fiasco.”