Zelensky Making Pitch to Biden in Person

At White House, he'll reportedly push for unrestricted use of weapons provided by the West
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 26, 2024 12:00 PM CDT
Zelensky Making Pitch to Biden in Person
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, from left, Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and Kier Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, speak before Working Session III of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Biden will meet with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Thursday in what could be the Ukrainian president's "final chance to convince a receptive American president of his country's war aims," CNN reports. Laying out his plan for victory amid increasing war weariness from allies, Zelensky will make the case that Ukraine can avoid losing territory if it receives enough US assistance, sources tell the outlet. Ukraine will also request the ability to use US weapons as it wishes, Finnish President Alexander Stubb tells the Wall Street Journal.

Publicly, Biden has refused to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by the West to strike deep inside Russia, though he's "recently appeared more open" to that possibility, per CNN. On Thursday, Biden announced an estimated $8 billion in aid for Ukraine, to include new long-range weapons, without saying how they'd be used, per the Hill and CNN. He said he'd directed the Defense Department "to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding that has been appropriated for Ukraine by the end of my term in office."

In addition to more US assistance, Zelensky will reportedly push for long-term security guarantees for Ukraine that would stretch beyond the US election. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee whom Zelensky will also meet Thursday, has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine. But former President Trump, the Republican nominee, has indicated he will end US military support for the country. "Ukraine is gone," he said Wednesday, per NBC News, faulting Zelensky for not accepting a peace deal. Zelensky is not expected to meet with Trump, whom he recently said "doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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