Volodymyr Zelenskyj is campaigning in the USA for more weapons for Ukraine. US President Joe Biden has promised an arms package. However, not all wishes are fulfilled. And there is resistance from Republicans.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj urgently called for further arms aid for his country during a visit to Washington. Zelensky first met top representatives of Congress on Thursday and was then received by US President Joe Biden at the White House. Biden said that the US would ensure that the “world stands with” Ukraine. The first Abrams tanks would arrive in Ukraine next week, he assured. However, there is resistance to new aid to Ukraine in the ranks of the opposition Republicans.
“Next week, the first American Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine,” Biden told reporters during Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Thursday. The President also promised Ukraine a new arms package, which, according to the Pentagon, is worth around $325 million (around €304 million). The package includes, among others, anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for Himars rocket launchers and artillery shells. However, the ATACMS type missiles with a range of 300 kilometers hoped for by the leadership in Kiev are not among them.
Resistance from the Republican ranks
Zelensky first met the leaders of Biden’s Democrats and the conservative Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives at the Capitol on Thursday. The president said afterwards that he had had “very strong” discussions. Zelensky later said he was counting on the U.S.’s “sustained support.” “To win, we have to stand together. And win together.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned of a possible lack of further support for Kiev: “Mr. Zelensky told us: ‘If we don’t get the help, we will lose the war.'”
Biden has asked Congress for $24 billion (around 22.5 billion euros) in new funding for Ukraine. But there is resistance from the ranks of conservative Republicans – and they make up the majority in the House of Representatives.
The right-wing wing of the party in particular argues that the money should be better used in the USA, including for border security. Republican Senator JD Vance wrote on the short message service X (formerly Twitter) that the USA was being asked to finance “an endless conflict with unlimited resources”. “Enough is enough.”
The chairman of the US House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, had already announced in advance of Zelensky’s visit that he would ask the Ukrainian president about the use of previous US funds and about the “plan for victory”.
Zelenskyj is in the USA for the second time since the beginning of the war
The Republican Michael McCaul assured Ukraine of further aid on Thursday after the meeting with Zelensky. “They need it and they will get it,” said the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
President Biden was confident: There is no other alternative for Congress than to vote for continued aid. “I rely on the insight of the US Congress. There is no other alternative,” the US President replied to a journalist’s question on Thursday.
The United States is Ukraine’s main supporter in the war against Russia and has already delivered or pledged more than $43 billion in military aid.
The Ukraine war in numbers
War costs: 250 billion euros, refugees: 23 million, dead civilians: 9,000
Zelenskyj had already traveled to Washington last December and gave a speech to Congress there. It was his first trip abroad after the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, 2022.
The Ukrainian president took part in the general debate at the UN General Assembly in the US metropolis this week. He spoke to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and the UN Security Council on Wednesday. On Thursday he traveled to Washington, where he was received by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon after his visit to Congress. Zelensky later met Biden.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
