The media focus is on the Ukraine President’s in person visit to the American Capitol….
The Ukraine President will meet with President Biden and leaders of Congress….
Oh, President Biden announces another $1.8 Billion for the Ukraine……
We’ll have updates tonight…..
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Washington area on Wednesday to meet with President Biden and deliver an evening address to a joint session of Congress, capping a remarkable two days that has taken the Ukrainian leader from the most violent point on the eastern front line to a daring show of solidarity in the capital of his most powerful ally.
Mr. Zelensky’s first trip outside Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February comes at a pivotal point in the war, which is now being waged on two fronts: in the fields and forests of southern and eastern Ukraine, where the armies are squaring off, and in the skies over the country as Ukrainian forces try to shoot down Russian missiles and drones aimed at civilian infrastructure.
With Ukraine having pushed back Russian forces in the northeast and south, the armies are digging in along a new, 600-mile front line, and Ukraine’s ability to regain more ground could depend on more weapons from allies, including the United States. Mr. Zelensky’s trip comes a day after congressional lawmakers proposed another $44 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, which would bring the total American wartime assistance to more than $100 billion.
Both Mr. Zelensky and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have sought to project resolve as the war approaches the 10-month mark, steeling their people for a long fight ahead. On Wednesday, Mr. Putin used an annual meeting of senior military leaders to acknowledge shortcomings in his military campaign, but insisted that Russia would achieve all its goals in Ukraine.
Here is what you need to know:
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Mr. Zelensky was scheduled to arrive at the White House at around 2 p.m. Eastern time to meet with President Biden after a long trans-Atlantic flight. The two leaders are expected to hold a joint news conference beginning at 4:30 p.m.
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Mr. Biden will announce on Wednesday $1.8 billion in immediate aid for Ukraine that includes the most advanced American ground-based air defense system, including a Patriot missile battery. Deliveries of new U.S. weapons will lead “to an aggravation of the conflict” and do “not bode well for Ukraine,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said on Wednesday.
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Mr. Zelensky’s address to Congress, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., follows a speech he made virtually to American lawmakers in March, weeks into the war, when he invoked the attack on Pearl Harbor and urged the United States to do more to help his country.
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On Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky made his boldest visit yet to the front line, meeting soldiers defending the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have failed to seize despite months of unrelenting bombardment.
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Ukraine’s prime minister has said that Russia wants to plunge Ukraine into total darkness during the winter holiday season, and warned the government to “prepare for new attacks.”….
Update….
Zelensky traveled by train to Poland and then flew to the US abroad a US Air Force C-40B/B-737 Special Air Missions jet….Landed at Joint Base Andrews around 12:45 PM EST….
Update……
One European official noted some raised eyebrows on the continent at news Zelenskiy would only visit the US, rather than the EU, too.
Member states have faced difficulty accessing energy supplies and economic fallout as a result of Russia’s war
Latest: trib.al/fe8fc8J
Bloomberg
Zelensky gives Biden a metal of valor given to a Ukraine soldier as a thank you for his support….And fir Biden to not forget the Ukraine grunt’s in the fight one would think….