The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, will meet his American counterpart, Joe Biden, at the White House this Wednesday, in his first international trip since the start of the Russian invasion at the end of February.
“President Biden looks forward to welcoming President Zelenski to the White House today, December 21,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre explained.
The visit confirms that the United States will support Kiev “as long as necessary,” added the official statement announcing the reception.
The spokeswoman also confirmed that during this visit Biden will announce a new aid package for Ukraine so that it can “defend itself against Russian aggression”. That will include weapons and a Patriot anti-aircraft system, according to reports.
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that these new arms deliveries will only “aggravate” the conflict.
Zelensky’s trip to Washington had been planned under “strict secrecy” and with great concern to ensure the safety of the European president, reports the newspaper The New York Times.
The newspaper cites senior US administration officials as sources who spoke on condition of anonymity of Washington’s “concern” about organizing this visit.
The White House announced the arrival of Zelenski at dawn, who will then be confirmed by the Ukrainian president himself, and who will provide for a speech before a joint session of the two Houses of the United States Congress.
The appearance of Russia
However, Russia does not expect positive changes in Ukraine’s position following its president’s visit to Washington, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
“No,” replied Russian presidency spokesman Dmitri Peskov succinctly when asked whether Moscow expected Zelensky’s visit to the United States to positively influence its position on possible negotiations with Russia.
To another question, whether the Ukrainian leader’s trip could cause a further escalation of the conflict, Peskov said that “weapons supplies continue” to Ukraine and that “it leads to an aggravation of the conflict” and “does not do well hope for Kiev”.
The president of the Russian Senate, Valentina Matviyenko, denied this Wednesday by setting deadlines for the “special military operation” Russian in Ukraine, who turned 300 days old that day.
“The goals and objectives of the special military operation have been set. It will end when they are achieved,” Matviyenko said at a news conference broadcast live on television.
According to her, “it is incorrect to talk about specific dates, because initially, when the decision was made to launch a special military operation, it did not meet any dates or deadlines.”
The head of the Russian Senate assured that the Russian military campaign “was the only possible way to protect the security” of Russia.
On September 1, 2021, Zelensky had already been received in the Oval Office by Biden, who had promised to support the former Soviet republic in the face of the threat from Russia.
The scenario will be the same this Wednesday, even if the environment will be very different: it will be the first personal meeting since the invasion of Russia, which made Zelenski the leader of a country at war and put Biden at the forefront of the Western response against Fly.
During this visit, between unprecedented security measures and with a duration of a few hours, the Ukrainian head of state, in addition to meeting Biden and his team at the White House, will offer a press conference, according to a senior US official.
Putin suspends his annual speech
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, will not deliver his traditional state of the nation address this year, as he is bound by the constitution, the Kremlin surprisingly announced.
“Before the new year, the president obviously won’t be making the speech. Now, as a matter of time, his schedule is very tight,” his spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference.
Putin, whom the independent press accuses of wanting to avoid uncomfortable questions about battlefield defeats in Ukraine, had not canceled that appointment even during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Source: AFP and EFE
B. C
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.