A battery of Patriot missiles, precision bombs, tens of billions of dollars more, and an oath of support "for as long as it takes." All of this will be offered by Joe Biden to Volodimir Zelensky on the crucial visit that, at the invitation of the US president, the Ukrainian leader is making today to the White House and the Capitol.
Washington only has a clear limit, and no less, to the aid that its president promises to provide to the country invaded by Russia "until the end." The American superpower will not send a single soldier to fight on the ground against the forces of Vladimir Putin.
During the visit, negotiated from the conversation between the two leaders on December 11 and carefully planned with the greatest security guarantees during the last week, Biden will announce before Zelenski the sending of a new military aid package to Ukraine amounting to 1,800 million which will include the long-awaited Patriot air defense missile battery, as well as precision smart bombs.
The meeting between the two leaders will serve to underline "the firm commitment of the United States" to maintain its aid to the attacked country "for as long as it is necessary and through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance," said the House spokeswoman. Blanca, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Support for Ukraine will continue to be "broad, deep and bipartisan," added a senior administration official. Proof of this is the plan to allocate massive aid for more than 40,000 million dollars to that country, within the US budget for next year: a project still pending debate in the chambers of Congress, at that Zelensky will address tonight.
Government sources who spoke of the Ukrainian leader's visit on condition of anonymity downplayed what they considered "rumors" of certain reluctance on the part of some Republicans to substantially increase aid to the Eastern European nation.
But in fact, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said a few weeks ago that "people are going to be in a recession and they will not write a blank check to Ukraine." Even so, the Government trusts in a unitary vote in favor of that enormous endowment for Ukraine.
However. Biden "has not wavered and will not waver today, next month or next year in his decision not to send US forces to Ukraine to fight directly against the Russians," said the senior official in charge of illustrating media about the content of the bilateral meeting at the White House. "And nothing will change in that sense," he insisted.
The Pentagon will continue to offer personnel and resources to "train" the Ukrainian forces in the use of the defensive material that the superpower sends it. In the case of the Patriot missile battery, which Putin warned against sending with his customary bravado and threats of retaliation, a group of US instructors will train Zelensky's soldiers in its use. The training will take place "in a third country" which the government source obviously did not specify.
Regarding a possible resumption of direct talks between Ukraine and Russia for the end of the war, Biden will reiterate to Zelensky his principle of "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine". And he "will not push or push the Ukrainian leader to a negotiating table." What he will do is "work with Congress and with our allies" to put the country under attack "in the best possible position on the battlefield so that, when the time comes, it will be in the best possible position for negotiation."
Zelensky landed at noon in Washington DC. This is the first time he has traveled abroad since the war started ten months ago.
