On the day Volodymyr Zelensky went to the White House to meet Joe Biden, a hail of Russian missiles and artillery fell on Ukraine. Such a massive wave of attacks has not been seen since mid-August, from the east to the west of the country the anti-aircraft sirens that precede the bombings rang out during the night, with a death toll of 5 in Kherson and injuries also in Kiev. This while the Ukrainian forces announced that they had attacked a Russian base in Crimea, in the city of Saky, a news however denied by the local pro-Russian administration.
Russian attack on Kiev, buildings and civilian structures hit.
Zelensky takes a beating in Washington where, despite Joe Biden’s unconditional support and the announcement of a new arms package in Kiev, the House Republicans are blocking indefinite support for Ukraine, freezing the Ukrainian leader’s expectations and the requests of the commander-in-chief. “If we don’t receive aid, we will lose the war”, was Zelensky’s heartfelt appeal to the approximately 70 senators he met together with the leader of the Democratic majority, Chuck Schumer, and that of the Republican minority, Mitch McConnell. The Ukrainian president, in military fatigues but wearing a shirt, thanked “the senators and deputies for their support”, but avoided answering journalists’ questions. “We keep the details of our conversations to ourselves,” he declared dryly, not hiding a certain disappointment.
Ukraine, Russian raid on the city of Cherkasy: at least seven injured
The balance in the American Congress has changed compared to nine months ago and, especially in the House, the front of aid skeptics is increasingly broader. Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy was responsible for freezing Zelensky’s expectations and Biden’s requests by excluding, or in any case not formally committing to putting the approval of the 24 billion dollar aid package on the agenda by the end of the year, as asked by the president.
After Capitol Hill, Zelensky moved to the Pentagon where he had a conversation with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with whom he laid a wreath at the September 11 memorial and took stock of the state of the counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian president’s intense day in the American capital ended at the White House with the meeting with Biden, the sixth in person between the two. In the Oval Office the commander in chief announced its intention to send the new arms package, naturally subject to the approval of Congress, which today seemed very far away. While reiterating his support for Kiev “for as long as necessary”, Biden disappointed Zelensky again by not including the coveted Atacms, those long-range missiles that the Ukrainian army would need to defend itself against attacks, in the list of new weapons. Russians. In the announced package there are in fact “significant air defense systems” but, for the umpteenth time, not the Army Tactical Missile Systems. “No decisions have been made yet, but they are not out of the question,” assured National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Officially the Pentagon says the US doesn’t have enough to share with its allies and, furthermore, that it wouldn’t make a difference to the Ukrainians at this point in the war. In fact, Washington’s real fear is that those missiles could be used to attack Russian territory with unimaginable consequences for Ukraine and the world.
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Zelensky to Biden, new weapons is what we need
“The new weapons package for Ukraine is very powerful. Thank you very much to the president, it is exactly what our soldiers need now.” Volodymyr Zelensky said this at the end of the talks with the American president at the White House. “Thank you for all these 575 days (since the Russian invasion of Ukraine ed.)”, the leader of Kiev said again, defining today’s meeting as “very productive”.
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‘Specific measures agreed’
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Biden, there is no alternative to OK Congress to aid Kiev
“I’m counting on the good judgment of Congress. There is no alternative.” Thus US President Joe Biden in his meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, answering a question whether he had had guarantees that Congress would vote in favor of sending aid to Kiev.
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As anticipated by the US media, the US State Department has announced a new arms package for Ukraine worth 325 million dollars. “Ukraine’s resilience, courage, and determination have inspired the world and galvanized U.S. and global efforts to help it defend itself and secure its future,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The package includes “new anti-air defense systems, artillery ammunition, anti-tank systems as well as cluster munitions, which will further improve Ukraine’s ability to continue its counteroffensive.”
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