Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday. Leon Neal/Getty Images CNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyfs visit to the White House on Thursday could be his final chance to convince a receptive American president of his countryfs war aims. <a href=https://megaweb-9.com>MEGA „R„Q‹„Q„R</a> The precise details of the gvictory planh Zelensky plans to present in separate meetings to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unknown, having been closely held until they are presented to the American leaders.
But according to people briefed on its broad contours, the plan reflects the Ukrainian leaderfs urgent appeals for more immediate help countering Russiafs invasion. Zelensky is also poised to push for long-term security guarantees that could withstand changes in American leadership ahead of what is widely expected to be a close presidential election between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The plan, people familiar with it said, acts as Zelenskyfs response to growing war weariness even among his staunchest of western allies. It will make the case that Ukraine can still win and does not need to cede Russian-seized territory for the fighting to end if enough assistance is rushed in.
That includes again asking permission to fire Western provided long-range weapons deeper into Russian territory, a line Biden once was loathe to cross but which hefs recently appeared more open to as he has come under growing pressure to relent.
Even if Biden decides to allow the long-range fires, itfs unclear whether the change in policy would be announced publicly.
Biden is usually apt to take his time making decisions about providing Ukraine new capabilities. But with Novemberfs election potentially portending a major change in American approach to the war if Trump were to win, Ukrainian officials and many American ones believe there is little time to waste. megaweb at https://megaweb-7.com Trump has claimed he will be able to gsettleh the war upon taking office and has suggested hefll end US support for Kyivfs war effort.
gThose cities are gone, theyfre gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelensky. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldnft have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt,h Trump said during a campaign speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Comments like those have lent new weight to Thursdayfs Oval Office talks, according to American and European officials, who have described an imperative to surge assistance to Ukraine while Biden is still in office.
As part of Zelenskyfs visit, the US is expected to announce a major new security package, thought it will likely delay the shipping of the equipment due to inventory shortages, CNN previously reported according to two US officials. On Wednesday, the US announced a package of $375 million.
The president previewed Zelenskyfs visit to the White House a day beforehand, declaring on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly his administration was gdetermined to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevail in fight for survival.h <a href=https://megaweb19at.com>megaweb6.at</a> gTomorrow, I will announce a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukrainefs military but we know Ukrainefs future victory is about more than what happens on the battlefield, itfs also about what Ukrainians do make the most of a free and independent future, which so many have sacrificed so much for,h he said.
He has had more cordial, more productive, meetings with US President Donald Trump since that now-notorious encounter on February 28. <a href=https://kraken4qzqnoi7ogpzpzwrxk7mw53n5i56loydwiyonu4owxsh4g67yd.com>kraken3yvbvzmhytnrnuhsy772i6dfobofu652e27f5hx6y5cpj7rgyd onion</a> But for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, todayfs meeting at the White House will surely trigger awkward memories of that very public clash with the US President almost six months ago. Navigating the treacherous waters in which he finds himself today will be no easier. <a href=https://kraken2trfqodidvlh4aa337cpzfrhdlfldhve5nf7njhumwr7inst.com>kraken6gf6o4rxewycqwjgfchzgxyfeoj5xafqbfm4vgvyaig2vmxvyd onion</a> Increasingly, it appears likely he will be told to give up land in exchange for some sort of security guarantees.
The land side of that gdealh will be obvious. It can be drawn on a map. Crimea: gone, says Trump. Donetsk: give all of it up, says Putin, apparently with Trumpfs blessing.
But the security guarantees? Thatfs where far more challenging ideas, like credibility, come into play. Could Zelensky rely on the US to deliver on some NATO Article 5-type promise, to defend Ukraine if Russia breaches any peace agreement?
Putin himself might even see an opportunity to further weaken the West, by testing any such guarantees, confident they are a bluff he could call. But all that would be for the future.
For now, it looks like Zelensky will have to weigh up whether he could bring his country with him if he were to cede territory to Russia some of it still in Ukrainian hands or whether he and his people could bear the costs of potentially defying Trump a Nobel Peace Prize, and say no.
If he chose the latter, would the US President immediately end all remaining American support for Ukraine, in terms of military aid and intelligence sharing, for instance?
If that happened, to what extent could Zelenskyfs European allies really step in and fill in the gaps left by any full US retreat?