Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initiated discussions in Congress and the White House on Tuesday, seeking increased military assistance from the United States. Meanwhile, Russia asserted progress on the battlefield and derisively downplayed the significance of Western support for Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began talks in Congress and at the White House Tuesday to plead for more US military aid, as Russia claimed advances on the battlefront and scornfully dismissed the impact of Western help for Kyiv.
Zelensky arrived at the Senate where he was set to meet with leaders of both parties, before going on to the House of Representatives to confer with the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson. Later, Zelensky was set to move over to the White House for one-on-one talks with President Joe Biden and a joint press conference.
The trip — coming as Ukraine’s main phone operator suffered what it said was a massive hacking attack — represents a desperate bid by Zelensky to keep Ukraine’s most important international backer from drifting away.
Republicans are increasingly lukewarm about the need to support Ukraine. They are also treating Bidens request for billions of dollars in new armaments as a bargaining chip for gains on immigration reform and US-Mexico border security — one of the most intractable issues in US politics.
In a speech Monday at the National Defense University in Washington, Zelensky said that politics should not “betray” Ukraine’s soldiers and he echoed Biden’s frequent warning that the Ukrainian struggle against invasion has global implications.
The Kremlin scoffed at the impact of US support, echoing the arguments made by some senior Republicans who say that continuing the flood of weaponry to Ukraine would be futile.
In an interview with Russian state television on Sunday, Putin said that Ukraine was “running out” of arms because its defense industry was not able to produce enough.
In a blow felt by civilians far beyond any frontlines, the country’s main mobile operator said it had been paralyzed by a “powerful hacker attack.”
The disruptions, which the company’s CEO called an act of “war,” make it impossible to send out air raid alerts, just as Ukraine is dealing with nightly Russian bombing.
Republican senators last week blocked Biden’s request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel.
Talks are ongoing behind the scenes on a deal that would make concessions to Republican demands for tough measures against illegal immigration in return for the Ukraine package.
However, Biden, who is seeking reelection next year, needs to thread a narrow passage between giving Republicans what they want and not alienating the left of his own party.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
