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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to meet with President Biden and to address Congress as the U.S. has pledged a major new weapons package to the embattled country.
We’ll share what was said during the meeting and Biden’s pledge to Ukraine. Plus: we’ll examine what’s in the new lethal aid package, and the Senate confirms the newest ambassador to Russia.
This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here or in the box below.Biden: US to stand with Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’
President Biden on Wednesday pledged to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes” during a press conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowing to help Kyiv win on the battlefield before any peace talks could take place with Moscow.
Biden’s remarks, which came during an unprecedented visit to Washington by Zelensky, underscored a view that U.S. assistance for Ukraine — military, economic and humanitarian — must continue for an undetermined amount of time into the future.
What was said: Biden also suggested that an end to the war would mean a win by Ukraine on the battlefield, which would also strengthen future potential talks between Zelensky and the Kremlin.
“We’re going to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield — if and when President Zelensky is ready to talk to the Russians, he will be able to succeed as well because he will have won on the battlefield,” Biden said.
Zelensky echoed the president’s remarks that a “just peace” for Ukraine is about ensuring all of the country’s territory was liberated — and secure — from Russia.
No compromises: “For me, as a president, just peace is no compromises as to the sovereignty, freedom, territorial integrity of my country, payback for all the damages inflicted by Russian aggression,” Zelensky said.
The historic wartime press conference at the White House came amid the Biden administration’s latest bulk of assistance to Ukraine during its war with Russia, most notably in the form of an additional $2 billion in security and humanitarian aid that includes a Patriot missile battery, an advanced aerial defense system to help Ukraine against Russia’s targeted attacks on the country’s energy and electricity infrastructure.
Winter as a weapon: “Russia is using winter as a weapon,” Biden said. “Freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another. It’s the latest example of the outrageous atrocities the Russians are committing against innocent Ukrainian civilians, children and their families.”
Praise: Biden also praised Ukraine’s military successes, saying that, “Ukraine has won the battle of Kyiv, won the battle Kherson, won the battle of Kharkiv, defied Russia’s expectation at every single turn” and praised Zelensky for being open to “pursuing peace, a just peace.
