An unnecessary trip? Volodymyr Zelensky, who came to Washington seeking assurances of renewed support, came up against divisions in the American political class on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian president, in a black sweater and khaki pants, arrived at the White House early in the afternoon, without any guarantee for his country at war, despite long discussions in the American Congress.
The institution has committed more than 110 billion dollars since the start of the Russian invasion, but has so far failed to agree on the extension requested by the White House to hold at least until the presidential election in November 2024 in the United States.
“Gift” to Putin
“The US Congress must pass an extension for Ukraine […] before he gives Putin the best Christmas present ever,” Joe Biden warned during a meeting with the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office.
Ukrainian troops “prove every day that Ukraine can win” against Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky said during this interview, brushing aside the doubts expressed by some after a disappointing counter-offensive by his army this summer. .
US Congress must pass extension for Ukraine […] before he gives Putin the best Christmas present ever
These doubts were notably raised by the head of the American House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, whose camp is increasingly skeptical about new military aid to kyiv.
“What the Biden administration seems to want is billions of additional dollars without adequate supervision, without any real victory strategy,” asserted the elected official after his interview with the Ukrainian head of state.
The head of the Democratic majority in the Senate, the other chamber of Congress, insisted on the challenges of aid to Ukraine. “If we lose, Putin will win and it will be very dangerous for the United States,” Chuck Schumer said after seeing Volodymyr Zelensky, as Russia claims “significant” military advances in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Russia. Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, whose third visit to the American Congress since the invasion of his country by Russia in February 2022, spoke on the social network X of a “friendly and frank” conversation with the senators.
Ukraine fears that a lasting blockage of American aid could also affect European military aid.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden are due, after their meeting in the Oval Office, to speak at a press conference scheduled for 4:15 p.m. local time.
“Fiasco”
In theory, elected officials only have until Friday – when the parliamentary recess begins – to reach an agreement on this envelope of 61 billion dollars. The White House has warned it will “run out of money” by the end of the year if nothing is done.
The Democrats are in favor of this new envelope. Republicans are not totally opposed to it, but they intend to link their support to a long-standing domestic policy demand: a major tightening of US immigration policy.
The Kremlin estimated on Tuesday that any new American aid was doomed to a “fiasco”. Russia, which has turned its economy towards the war effort, is pushing ever harder into eastern and southern Ukraine.
At the cost, according to American intelligence, of enormous losses: 315,000 Russian soldiers have been injured or killed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, according to a document, declassified and transmitted to Congress, revealed on the occasion of the visit to Washington by the Ukrainian president.
The Russian army has advanced “significantly” in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, Moscow-installed governor Yevgeny Balitsky said on Tuesday.
The Russians also launched, two days ago, a “massive offensive” around Avdiïvka and Mariinka, hot spots on the eastern front, declared Oleksandr Tarnavsky, Ukrainian commander of the area, assuring that his troops “held firm » their positions.
The AFP is not able to verify these assertions by the belligerents.
Russia, which continues its daily strikes throughout Ukraine, is also suspected of being behind a “powerful” computer hack which paralyzed the first Ukrainian mobile operator, Kyivstar, according to the Ukrainian security services.