Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Washington DC on Thursday to lobby Congress for more aid and meet with President Joe Biden, as there are signs that support is emerging for his fight against Russia.
Zelensky will make stops on Capitol Hill and the Pentagon and end his day at the White House as he tries to maintain a key funding line for the war effort.
His visit comes as a group of Republican lawmakers warned the White House that it is rejecting Biden’s request for $24 billion in aid to Ukraine, and as Moscow launches its biggest missile attack in weeks on targets across the country country fires.
In addition, Poland announced it would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, a blow to Zelensky and increasing pressure on his quest for more support from the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is welcomed to the Capitol by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Dispute between Ukraine and Poland related to grain bans
Tensions have increased between Ukraine and Poland, its neighbor and primary ally, over grain shipments.
Several European Union countries have previously imposed a ban on Ukrainian grain to protect their own farmers.
Last week the EU announced plans to suspend the ban. But three countries – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they would keep it.
Ukraine protested and filed lawsuits against all three countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned the ban in his address to the United Nations, saying: “It is alarming to see how some in Europe, some of our friends in Europe, show solidarity in a political theater and turn the core into a thriller. “
He accused them of supporting Moscow. Poland condemned the comments and summoned its ambassador from Ukraine.
Zelensky will begin his day on Capitol Hill, where he will meet with House leaders and then senators in the old Senate chamber, a rare privilege for world leaders.
The entire Senate will be present to welcome him.
On the other side of the Capitol, a cooler reception awaits him on the House of Representatives side. Zelensky asked to give another joint speech to Congress, as he did last December, Punchbowl News reported, but spokesman Kevin McCarthy rejected the request.
Zelensky will meet with the speaker, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other committee chairs and ranking members on the first floor of the Capitol.
Members of Ukraine’s Congressional Caucus and other lawmakers are expected to meet with him at the National Archives later Thursday morning.
Zelensky will seek support as Ukraine’s neighbor Poland has announced it will no longer supply weapons to Kiev.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now equipping Poland with more modern weapons,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev, sparked by Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect the interests of its farmers, have escalated in recent days.
Poland was one of Ukraine’s earliest and most loyal allies after Russia’s invasion. It has hosted over a million refugees and has been Kiev’s largest arms supplier.
In the US, Zelensky must appeal to Republicans in the House of Representatives, who have made it clear they are against more funding for Ukraine. McCarthy’s stopgap measure to keep the government running while lawmakers negotiate a full budget deal lacks any funding for Kyiv.
And now 29 GOP lawmakers wrote to Biden’s budget chief to express concern about how much has already been given to Ukraine – $100 billion – and to complain that the Biden administration supports an “indefinite commitment” to the country.
They argue that Americans need more information about the war effort.
“How is the counteroffensive going? Are Ukrainians closer to victory than they were six months ago? What is our strategy and what is the president’s exit plan? You write.
McCarthy has made similar comments.
“I think a lot of people have the question: What’s the strategy to win?” he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell supports funding Ukraine’s war effort, even though some conservatives in the upper house believe the U.S. has done enough to help Kiev.
A framed flag signed by Ukrainian frontliners in Bakhmut and presented to the U.S. Congress in 2022 lies at one end of the table where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet privately with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other leaders
Spokesman Kevin McCarthy has questioned US funding for Ukraine
Zelensky will also meet with President Joe Biden, who arrived back in Washington on Wednesday evening after meetings at the United Nations
The Biden administration continues to push for more funding.
Zelensky’s visit comes at a “critical time as Russia approaches countries like North Korea and Iran,” White House spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
Biden could gain a “battlefield perspective” by meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Kirby noted.
While Zelensky was out of the country, Russia increased its airstrikes, damaging energy facilities and causing power outages in several regions.
Moscow targeted Lviv in the west near the border with Poland and Kharkiv near Ukraine’s eastern front, as well as Kiev, Cherkassy and Rivne.
Zelensky arrives in Washington after addressing the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
He also addressed the UN Security Council, where he took a tough line and accused it of inaction against Russia’s invasion of his country.
“Most of the world recognizes the truth about this war,” Zelensky said.
“We should recognize that the United Nations is at an impasse on aggression,” he noted.