[1/5] US President Joe Biden welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday marks a high point in ties between Ukraine and its most important ally, looking back on a relationship strengthened by Russia’s invasion but not. frictionless on the way.
The visit, Zelenskiy’s first outside Ukraine since the war began, will also underline trust between the two countries with a White House meeting, a visit to Congress and a focus on more weapons for Kiev.
It’s a relationship without resentment, despite the strong military and diplomatic support the United States has given Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24.
“Friction is inevitable even between close allies in times of war,” said Richard Gowan, director of the United Nations’ International Crisis Group.
“The U.S. and the U.K. had a lot of fights over how to deal with World War II. So I don’t think we should let the day-to-day friction overshadow how much the U.S. has helped Ukraine,” Gowan said.
The tension between the leaders has manifested itself at several key moments in the past year.
Biden recently disputed Zelenskiy’s claim that the missiles that landed in Poland last month were not of Ukrainian origin, bluntly telling reporters, “That’s not evidence.”
And as the United States warned that it was massing tens of thousands of troops to invade Moscow in January, Zelenskiy blamed Washington and the media for stoking panic weighing on the economy “while there were no tanks in the streets.”
A month later Russia invaded Ukraine.
Western powers have stepped up to supply Ukraine with arms and aid, take in millions of refugees and impose harsh sanctions on Russia. But Zelenskiy kept pushing for more, including a no-fly zone rejected by NATO in March.
“It was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, where it was clear that not everyone considers the struggle for the freedom of Europe to be their main goal,” Zelenskiy said at the time.
Then, in June, Zelenskiy praised the NATO summit in Madrid that cleared the way for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, but called for more military aid and an even tougher stance on Russia. “We need security guarantees, and you have to find a place for Ukraine in the common security space.”
NATO membership for Ukraine has been a long-standing and controversial question. Zelenskiy has called for the military alliance to accept his country into the group. Ukraine has a 2008 NATO promise, when Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, that it would eventually be allowed to join.
The alliance has yet to make progress on Ukraine’s request, however. In November, NATO reaffirmed that 2008 decision, but again gave no concrete steps or timetable.
MORE WEAPONS, PLEASE
The US has given Ukraine $19.3 billion in military aid during the war. See the article : Rethinking How the United States Trains Foreign Soldiers. Biden is set to announce nearly $2 trillion in additional military aid on Wednesday, including a battery of Patriot missiles – one of the US’s most advanced air defense systems and often equipped with allies around the world.
Zelenskiy wants more, but is also grateful for what Ukraine has already received from Washington.
His political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskiy’s visit to the United States provided an opportunity to explain the real situation in Ukraine, what weapons Kyiv needs to fight Russia – specifically armored vehicles, the latest missile defense systems and long-range missiles – and why. to explain they
In addition, the visit underscores Biden and Zelenskiy’s belief that the United States remains the leader of the free world, said Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland and a member of the Atlantic Council.
“He didn’t go to Berlin, Brussels, London or Paris,” said Friede. “Of course he’s asking for more aid, of course he’s asking for more weapons and obviously at times he rubbed the Biden administration the wrong way by pushing hard.”
But he added that Zelenskiy knows that “America makes a difference.”
(This story has been updated to correct the spelling of ‘Ukrainian’ in the first paragraph)
Additional reporting by Dan Peleschuk in Kiev and Heather Timmons in Washington
Editing by Don Durfee and Chris Sanders
