(Washington) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the United States on Sunday evening, where he will present to his American counterpart Joe Biden and Congress the details of his “victory plan” aimed at ending the Russian invasion of his country.
Published at 9:02 p.m.
Mr Zelensky began his trip with a visit to a weapons factory in Pennsylvania that produces 155mm shells, which Ukraine uses heavily to combat Russian forces.
“I started my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the workers at the plant,” he said on the social network X. “It’s in places like this that you really see that the democratic world can prevail,” he added.
The Ukrainian head of state is due to travel to New York and Washington, where he will be received by Mr Biden at the White House on Thursday.
PHOTO DEONTE ROWELL, US ARMY, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Mr Zelensky began his trip with a visit to a weapons factory in Pennsylvania that produces 155mm shells, which Ukraine uses heavily to combat Russian forces.
Mr Zelensky, who said that “this autumn will be decisive for the continuation” of the war, announced that his American counterpart would be “the first to see in detail” his proposals for ending the conflict with Russia.
This war can only end with a just peace through international efforts. The plan for Ukraine’s victory will be on the table of all our allies.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine
“The main goal is to strengthen Ukraine and protect all our people,” Zelensky further said on X.
During his visit, the Ukrainian leader also wants to present his plan to Congress as well as to “two presidential candidates,” Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump.
He said he then wanted to present it to “all the leaders of our partner countries.”
UN General Assembly
His trip comes amid the American presidential campaign and coincides with the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for next week in New York.
Mr Zelensky is expected to try again to convince Joe Biden to allow Kyiv to strike targets in Russia with long-range Western weapons, which he says could change the course of the war.
So far, “neither America nor the UK have given us permission to use these weapons on Russian territory, on any target and at any distance,” and so Kyiv has not done so, he explained to media outlets including AFP on Friday evening.
PHOTO JOSE LUIS MAGANA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mr Zelensky is expected to try again to convince Joe Biden (pictured) to allow Kyiv to strike targets in Russia
On Saturday, Russia announced that it would not participate in the second summit on Ukraine requested by Kyiv in November, after a first edition in June in Switzerland.
“The summit will have the same goals: to promote the illusory ‘Zelensky formula’ as any basis for resolving the conflict, to gain the support of the majority of the world and to use it to present Russia with an ultimatum of capitulation,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
While Kyiv maintains its demand for a “just” peace that would see Russian troops leave the country’s internationally recognized borders, including the Crimean peninsula, Moscow intends to study only “serious proposals” that would take into account “the situation on the ground reflecting geopolitical realities.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that Moscow would only agree to peace talks if Ukraine gave up sovereignty over five of its regions, which Russia has partly or fully occupied and which it claims to annex.
On the ground, the war continues and a nighttime Russian attack on residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city regularly targeted, left 21 people injured on Saturday evening, the region’s governor announced on Sunday.
