Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appealing urgently to President Joe Biden on Thursday to let the country extend its use of American weapons, waded into a heightened partisan divide over the Russia-Ukraine war, with the U.S. presidential election weeks away.<\/p>\n
Biden met with Zelensky at the White House on Thursday, but he did not grant Kyiv\u2019s request for permission to fire American-made missiles deeper into Russia. Instead, he announced the delivery of more military aid and new air defense capabilities, as the White House sought to show strong support for Ukraine while rejecting the country\u2019s primary plea.<\/p>\n
Former president Donald Trump, meanwhile, announced that he would meet with Zelensky on Friday morning, apparently a last-minute addition to the Ukrainian leader\u2019s schedule following growing tensions between Zelensky and Republican leaders.<\/p>\n
Zelensky\u2019s trip to the United States comes at an intense, potentially pivotal moment in both the Ukraine war and the American election. The Ukrainian president at times struggled to navigate the turbulence of the U.S. political landscape at a moment when some Republicans are increasingly hostile to his country\u2019s war effort and more sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
Zelensky\u2019s recent stop at a Pennsylvania factory that makes shells for Ukraine\u2019s war effort, for example, prompted an angry reaction from Trump, who accused him of electoral interference for visiting an American swing state. Zelensky also provoked Republicans\u2019 anger by telling the New Yorker that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump\u2019s running mate and a staunch opponent of Ukraine aid, is \u201ctoo radical.\u201d<\/p>\n
His separate meetings Thursday with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris marked a frantic effort to persuade the White House to grant permission for the long-range strikes. Some military analysts say Russia is poised for significant gains if Ukraine cannot manage to reverse the time in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s 2\u00bd-year-old invasion has killed or injured roughly 1 million people on both sides, and it is one of the largest conflicts in Europe since World War II.<\/p>\n
Biden has been reluctant to grant Ukraine authority for the long-range strikes, despite some top aides and European allies urging him to do so, fearing it could escalate the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and the West. On Wednesday, Putin issued a nuclear threat against the West, saying that any nation\u2019s conventional attack on Russia that was supported by a nuclear power would be perceived as a joint attack.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his meeting with Zelensky on Thursday, Biden pledged to help Ukraine defeat Russia and thanked the Ukrainian leader for sharing his \u201cvictory plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand with Ukraine now and in the future,\u201d Biden said. \u201cLet me be clear. Russia will not prevail in war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before her own sit-down with Zelensky, Harris hinted at the partisan dispute that has been evident during his visit, criticizing those pushing Ukraine to give up its territory and make other concessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese proposals are the same of those of Putin,\u201d Harris said. \u201cAnd let us be clear \u2014 they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The military aid that Biden pledged to Ukraine on Thursday comes at a gloomy moment for Kyiv\u2019s battlefield situation, with Russia making gains in eastern Ukrainian territories and coming closer to retaking the Russian territory that Kyiv seized last month.<\/p>\n
Biden offered significant new air defense capabilities, including an additional Patriot antiaircraft battery to help Ukraine defend its cities and energy infrastructure. The president also promised to train 18 more Ukrainian F-16 pilots next year and announced additional drones and air-to-ground munitions. He offered a new air-fired long-range glide bomb, called the Joint Standoff Weapon, that should help Ukraine more successfully strike Russian targets.<\/p>\n
In all, the new assistance will use up the remaining $7.8 billion allocated to Ukraine this year under the $60 billion supplemental bill that Congress passed in April. Those funds must be spent by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
The new shipment of aid comes in lieu of green-lighting Zelensky\u2019s central request during his visit: the ability to use the U.S. long-range missile systems known as ATACMS to strike deeply into Russia. Ukrainians say those missiles, with a range of 180 miles, would help destroy Russian supply lines and ease bombardments on their country by pushing the Kremlin\u2019s forces away from the border. The decision has divided Biden\u2019s administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n
The political furor surrounding Zelensky\u2019s visit reflects a complex three-way dance between Democrats, who want to help Ukraine make military progress before a potential Trump presidency; Republicans, who are divided over \u2014 and increasingly opposed to \u2014 supporting Ukraine; and Zelensky, who has made it clear he fears time is running out for his country\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n
Following a meeting at the Capitol between Zelensky and a group of senators, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Biden should grant Zelensky\u2019s request for long-range strike authority, saying it would give Ukraine leverage in the effort to press Putin to negotiate a settlement to end the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you continue the policy of holding Ukraine back because you\u2019re worried about escalation, you will doom them to lose,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
That perspective was at odds with many of Graham\u2019s fellow Republicans, who want Biden to provide less, not more, support to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump suggested Zelensky is aligned with Democrats, saying the Ukrainian president \u201crefuses to make a deal\u201d to end the war with Russia. \u201cEvery time he comes into the country he walks away with $60 billion. He\u2019s probably the greatest salesman on Earth,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe wants them to win this election so badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden, who has accused Trump of being too willing to embrace authoritarians such as Putin, has worked to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine despite growing Republican opposition to sending more money and weapons as the war has dragged on. He has been wary of authorizing the long-range strikes in part because of fears that Russia would retaliate by escalating elsewhere, for example by sending arms to the Houthi militia in Yemen or nuclear know-how to Iran.<\/p>\n
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, members of both parties enthusiastically supported helping Kyiv. Republican and Democratic lawmakers feared that allowing Russia to invade its neighbor could pave the way for Putin to invade nearby NATO countries, including Poland, as well as encourage other aggressors such as China to seize territory in their own backyards.<\/p>\n
But over time, Republican skepticism of U.S. military and economic support for Ukraine has grown significantly. It is now being stoked by Trump and Vance, both of whom have expressed sympathy with Putin and encouraged Ukraine to give up territory if that\u2019s what it takes to end the war.<\/p>\n
Even so, Biden and Zelensky have had a turbulent relationship over the course of the war. Ukrainian leaders say they appreciate Biden\u2019s efforts to send them arms, but they also complain that the White House has been overly cautious and too restrictive in how it doles out the aid.<\/p>\n
As Zelensky has asked for one weapon after another \u2014 tanks, F-16 fighter jets, long-range missile systems \u2014 the White House has first demurred, then eventually agreed. Ukrainian leaders are hoping a similar pattern plays out with Zelensky\u2019s current request to use ATACMS for attacks well inside Russia.<\/p>\n
Some Ukrainian officials say that if the U.S. had agreed to their requests more quickly, they would be in a far stronger position against Russia today. But Biden administration officials say that America\u2019s considerations do not always align with Ukraine\u2019s, and that avoiding the outbreak of World War III with a nuclear-armed Russia also must be a priority.<\/p>\n
Biden, for his part, has at times complained directly to Zelensky that he is not showing sufficient appreciation for the sacrifices Americans are making to support Ukraine, or the political sacrifices Biden himself is making to maintain that support, particularly when gas and food prices rose because of supply-chain issues caused by the war.<\/p>\n
With the presidential race so narrowly divided and both campaigns seeking to appeal to swing voters in battleground states, eastern European diaspora communities scattered across Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin have emerged as important voting blocs, further entangling the Ukraine war with American politics.<\/p>\n
Harris, in her debate against Trump earlier this month, cited Pennsylvania\u2019s roughly 700,000 Polish Americans in talking about the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian Americans also make up a large bloc of voters in the battleground states. Americans with ethnic ties to the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia \u2014 three of the countries most alarmed by Russian aggression \u2014 number in the thousands in Wisconsin and Michigan.<\/p>\n
Voters with East European roots have traditionally leaned Republican, dating to the Cold War era when the GOP was seen as tougher than Democrats on Communism. But with Trump praising Putin and leading his party in a NATO-skeptical direction, Democrats see opportunities to make inroads.<\/p>\n
That helped explain why Zelensky\u2019s trip Monday to Scranton, Pa., was so sensitive, especially since he appeared alongside Pennsylvania\u2019s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, a highly visible Harris supporter. Some European leaders privately questioned Zelensky\u2019s judgment on Thursday, wondering why he had allowed himself to appear in a politically sensitive setting.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tumultuous relationship with Zelensky dates back to his previous presidential term, when he seemingly linked the provision of U.S. military aid to Zelensky\u2019s willingness to investigate Biden\u2019s son. That issue eventually led to Trump\u2019s first impeachment and his lasting anger toward Ukraine\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n
This year, Ukrainian leaders have tried to build ties to the Trump camp as the former president has emerged as the Republican nominee. There were times this spring when at least some of Zelensky\u2019s aides believed that Trump might have a better chance than Biden of helping them drive a tough bargain with Putin.<\/p>\n
Zelensky\u2019s visit this week illustrates how much the dynamic has changed, as several prominent Republicans publicly criticized the Ukrainian president.<\/p>\n
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) announced he was opening an investigation into Zelensky\u2019s trip to Pennsylvania, particularly the Biden administration flying him there on a military plane. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the U.S. for arranging the trip.<\/p>\n
Johnson also said he would not meet with Zelensky this week because of a scheduling conflict, even as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled his strong support of Zelensky and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Liz Goodwin contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appealing urgently to President Joe Biden on Thursday to let the country extend its use of American weapons, waded into a heightened partisan divide over the Russia-Ukraine war, with the U.S. presidential election weeks away. Biden met with Zelensky at the White House on Thursday, but he did not grant Kyiv\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}