Washington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on his method to Washington to fulfill with President Biden and ship an tackle to Congress in his first journey outdoors Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.
Planning for Zelenskyy’s go to was shrouded in secrecy on account of safety considerations, however U.S. officers confirmed the journey Tuesday night time.
“On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of Ukraine. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between Ukraine and the U.S.,” Zelenskyy tweeted early Wednesday morning. “I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.”
Mr. Biden will greet Zelenskyy on the White House at 2 p.m., and the 2 will maintain a joint press convention at 4:30 p.m. Zelenskyy will then tackle a joint session of Congress at 7:30 p.m., Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s workplace mentioned.
A senior administration official mentioned Mr. Biden will announce a brand new assist package deal for Ukraine value “nearly $2 billion” and embody, for the primary time, a Patriot missile battery, which the official known as “a critical asset to defend the Ukrainian people against Russia’s barbaric attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.” The official mentioned the U.S. “will train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the Patriot missile battery in a third country.”
Zelenskyy’s go to comes as Russia has ramped up strikes towards essential Ukrainian infrastructure as winter units in, with Russian forces final week launching one of many largest assaults on the capital of Kyiv for the reason that warfare started.
The Ukrainian president’s speech to Congress additionally comes as U.S. lawmakers work to move a sweeping $1.7 trillion authorities spending package deal that features almost $45 billion in army, humanitarian and financial help for Ukraine. The measure could be one of many last items of laws handed by the present Congress, and lawmakers have been transferring with urgency to clear the omnibus invoice earlier than a Friday deadline to avert a partial authorities shutdown.
The roughly $45 billion included for Ukraine is larger than the $37.7 billion requested by the White House in November and, if authorised by Congress, could be the newest tranche of emergency help supplied to Ukraine because it continues to battle Russia.
Lawmakers have allotted greater than $65 billion in assist to Ukraine for the reason that invasion, although some House Republicans have expressed opposition to persevering with direct funding to the nation. This new package deal would convey U.S. help to over $100 billion.