Zelensky will present ‘victory plan’ to Biden, Harris and Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to present his “plan for victory” in the country’s war with Russia to President Joe Biden during his visit to the United States this week.
Zelensky also intends to present the plan to Congress and two candidates in the US presidential election: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
He is expected to step up efforts to persuade the United States and its allies to allow Ukraine to fire missiles it has supplied deep into Russian territory for the first time during the war.
Zelensky’s visit to the US comes as the White House is trying to prepare a new $375m (£283m) military aid package for Ukraine.
This fall will “decide the future of this war,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X.
In a statement ahead of the visit, the Ukrainian leader outlined three elements of his plan: continued arms funding, diplomatic efforts to force Russia to agree to peace, and holding Moscow accountable for a full-scale invasion in 2022.
For months, Ukraine has been pleading with the United States, Britain and other Western allies to ease restrictions on the use of long-range missiles so it can strike targets in Russia that Kyiv says are being used to carry out attacks.
In early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western countries that he would consider long-range missile strikes as “direct involvement” of the NATO military alliance in the war.
Asked by reporters on Sunday whether he had made a decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range weapons, Biden replied: “No.”
Trump has previously criticized US support for Ukraine and praised Putin, but said he would “probably” meet with Zelensky.
The former president has previously outlined his own plan to end the war “within 24 hours” if re-elected in November, but has not given details.
According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom he met in March, Trump vowed to “not spend a single penny on the Ukraine-Russia war. That is why the war will end.”
Zelensky’s statement also expressed gratitude for the support from Ukraine’s allies so far, especially the United States as the country’s “top supporter.”
The United States is the largest foreign donor to Ukraine and has so far provided $56 billion for the country’s defense.
After arriving in the United States on Sunday, Zelensky stopped in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to visit a factory that produces ammunition for Ukraine’s war effort.
After Washington, Zelensky is expected to travel to New York and the United Nations for a planned Security Council meeting on Tuesday and a speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday.
