Wednesday’s visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House will serve as a startling public rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin while also strengthening America’s position as the arsenal of democracy in the protracted battle for the survival of Ukraine.
Zelensky’s trip, his first outside Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, also emphasises President Joe Biden’s historic role in reviving the Western alliance that kept the Soviet Union at bay and is currently thwarting new expansionism by Moscow in an actual proxy war between nuclear superpowers.
Zelensky’s arrival in Washington on Friday may elicit emotional comparisons to Winston Churchill’s entrance there on Thursday, 81 years ago, only days after the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor. The alliance that would win World War II and create the post-war democratic world was solidified during that Christmas visit.
In a video address to the UK Parliament earlier this year, Zelensky compared his country’s resistance to Russia to Britain’s lone opposition to the Nazis in the days before the US entered World War II. His arrival in the US capital will highlight the similarities to Churchill and Roosevelt’s earlier meeting.
Extreme security is being used throughout his visit. In an unexpected end to her speakership, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to even acknowledge the early reports that she would welcome Zelensky to the US Capitol, saying on Tuesday night, “We don’t know yet. We simply are unaware.
A Zelensky reception at the White House, according to sources, will serve as a clear demonstration of US and Western support for Ukraine’s struggle against Putin, who maintains that the nation has no right to exist. The conflict serves as an example of the conflict that Biden has characterised as a struggle between democracy and tyranny on a worldwide scale and placed at the core of his foreign policy.
Zelensky was travelling to Washington with a definite objective, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona revealed on AWN’s “AC360” earlier this month after visiting Ukraine. According to Gallego, a member of the Armed Services Committee, “what he is attempting to do is make a clear line between our backing and the survival, support, and potential victory of Ukraine.”
Zelensky prepared to obtain significant US military assistance
The desired Patriot missile systems will be included in Biden’s announcement of an additional $1.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during his visit, a US official told AWN’s Phil Mattingly. According to sources speaking to AWN’s Pentagon team, Washington also intends to supply Ukraine precision bomb kits to transform less advanced weapons into “smart bombs” that could aid in targeting Russian defence lines. Zelensky’s arrival also coincides with Congress’s impending approval of an additional $45 billion in assistance for Ukraine and NATO allies, strengthening the commitment that has allowed Kyiv’s military to exact an unanticipatedly brutal price on Putin’s soldiers.
The Patriots decision, which would fulfil a long-standing Ukrainian request, is a reflection of the US process of aligning its assistance with the altering tactics of Russia’s offensive. The technology would enable Kyiv to more effectively defend against Russia’s vicious missile attacks on cities and power plants that it has launched in an effort to destroy the spirit of Ukrainian residents by weaponizing the harsh winter.
The encounter between Biden and Zelensky, who have spoken on the phone and via video conferences numerous times but haven’t actually met since the invasion, takes place at a crucial juncture in the conflict. Since several months ago, Biden has carefully timed US supply of military systems and arms in order to assist Ukraine without escalating the crisis into a devastating direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. He, for example, disregarded Ukrainian demands that the West impose a no-fly zone over the nation. The Patriots, a long-range aerial defence system, would be the US’s most significant military involvement in the fight to date.
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Wesley Clark said that Zelensky’s trip reflects a critical moment when the destiny of a war that Ukraine cannot win without upgraded US support could be decided before Russia can regroup.
On “AC360” on Tuesday, Clark said, “This is a window of opportunity for Ukraine and a window of peril as well.”
Russia may be weak, but it will get stronger. The United States must offer its full support during this time. President Zelensky is aware that this is his window of opportunity if he is to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine with US assistance, Clark added.
“The battleground will be very different in the summer,” was the advice.
