Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ukraine's Zelenskyy Preparing to Visit DC on Wednesday
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
December 20, 2022

Share

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to visit Washington on Wednesday, according to three AP sources, in his first known trip outside the country since Russia’s invasion began in February.

Two congressional sources and one person familiar with the matter confirmed plans for the visit. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the highly sensitive nature of the trip. They said Zelenskyy’s visit, while expected, could still be called off at the last minute due to security concerns.

The visit to Washington is set to include an address to Congress on Capitol Hill and a meeting with President Joe Biden. It comes as lawmakers are set to vote on a year-end spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and as the U.S. prepares to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the country to help stave off Russia’s invasion.

The latest tranche of U.S. funding would be the biggest American infusion of assistance yet to Ukraine, above even Biden’s $37 billion emergency request, and would ensure that funding flows to the war effort for months to come.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraged lawmakers to be on hand for Wednesday evening’s session.

“We are ending a very special session of the 117th Congress with legislation that makes progress for the American people as well as support for our Democracy,” Pelosi wrote Tuesday in a letter to colleagues. “Please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”

Zelenskyy has — almost daily — addressed various parliaments and international organizations by video and he has sent his wife to foreign capitals to drum up assistance. The visit comes a day after he made a daring and dangerous trip to what he called the hottest spot on the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) front line, the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province.

In a video released by his office from the Bakhmut visit, Zelenskyy was handed a Ukrainian flag and alluded to delivering it to U.S. leaders.

“The guys handed over our beautiful Ukrainian flag with their signatures for us to pass on,” Zelenskyy said in the video. “We are not in an easy situation. The enemy is increasing its army. Our people are braver and need more powerful weapons. We will pass it on from the boys to the Congress, to the president of the United States. We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough. It is a hint — it is not enough.”

The U.S. has committed almost $20 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, according to figures from the Pentagon. The U.S. is also providing intelligence to Ukrainian forces and helping Ukraine fend off Russian cyberattacks and efforts at sabotage, American and Ukrainian officials have said.

The visit comes at an important moment for Biden and Zelenskyy as the White House braces for greater resistance from a Republican-controlled House that’s signaled it will put more scrutiny on aid for Ukraine in the new Congress. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has said his party’s lawmakers will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine.

Biden and Zelenskyy frequently have held phone calls in coordination with the White House announcing new tranches of military assistance for Ukraine. The calls have been mostly warm, with Biden praising Ukraine for remaining steadfast against the Russians and Zelenskyy thanking the U.S. president for support.

The one exception was a June phone call soon after Biden notified Zelenskyy another $1 billion package was headed to Ukraine. Zelenskyy didn’t miss a beat in listing additional assistance he said Ukraine needed. That irked Biden, who underscored to Zelenskyy the American people’s generosity.

The brief moment of tension hasn’t caused any lasting difficulty, according to officials familiar with the episode.

Earlier this month, several Ukraine officials — including Foreign Relations Committee Deputy Chairwoman Maria Mezentseva and parliamentarians Olena Khomenko and Lesia Zaburanna — traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. lawmakers to thank them for American assistance and underscore the need to keep the money flowing.

Zelenskyy addressed Congress by video link in March. Wearing a green T-shirt with the Ukrainian flag behind him, Zelenskyy argued that the U.S. and Ukraine shared common dreams and goals.

“Democracy, independence, freedom and care for everyone, for every person, for everyone who works diligently, who lives honestly, who respects the law,” he said then. “We in Ukraine want the same for our people. All that is normal part of your own life.”

His visit comes in the final days of Pelosi’s House speakership. Republicans will take control of the House in January, while Democrats retain power in the Senate. While Republicans set to chair key national-security committees push for continued support of Ukraine, there are growing concerns among the GOP rank-and-file about the cost and duration of the effort.

News of Zelenskyy’s visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

UP NEXT

Pope to Make Late Italian Teenager Carlo Acutis the First Millennial Saint on April 27

UP NEXT

US Vetoes UN Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza Conflict

UP NEXT

Bomb Cyclone Kills 1 and Knocks Out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

UP NEXT

Israeli Officials Demand the Right to Strike Hezbollah Under Any Cease-Fire Deal for Lebanon

UP NEXT

Spain Will Legalize Hundreds of Thousands of Undocumented Migrants in the Next 3 Years

UP NEXT

TSMC Walks a Geopolitical Tightrope

UP NEXT

Iran Defies International Pressure, Increasing Its Stockpile of Near Weapons-Grade Uranium, UN Says

UP NEXT

Moscow Says Ukraine Fired 6 US-Made Longer-Range Missiles Into Russia

UP NEXT

Middle East Latest: US Envoy Holds Talks in Lebanon About Israel-Hezbollah Cease-Fire

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

4 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

5 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

5 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

5 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

5 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

6 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

6 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

6 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

7 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

7 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

3 hours ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

4 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

4 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
5 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

5 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

5 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
5 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend