Sept. 23 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got to work in the United States on Monday on lobbying the current and potential future leadership to sign up to his vision of how his country can win its war with Russia.
He is due to lay out his “plan for victory” to President Joe Biden for the first time this week as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, Republican nominee former President Donald Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The three-pronged blueprint centers on ramping up weapons and ammunition contributions to Ukraine‘s war effort, increased international diplomatic pressure to nudge Russia toward peace and holding Moscow accountable for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, Zelensky said ahead of the trip.
Zelensky is also expected to lobby hard to get Washington and allies to lift a prohibition on using Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russian territory — a call doggedly resisted over fears it could be seen as the West actively entering the conflict, triggering escalation.
“This fall will determine the future of this war. Together with our partners, we can strengthen our positions as needed for our victory — a shared victory for a truly just peace,” Zelensky said in a video post on X from onboard his aircraft Sunday ahead of touching down in the United States.
He said he would also hold meetings with leaders of the Global South, G7, Europe, and heads of international organizations.
Those talks were expected to take place in New York on the sidelines of a U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday and the U.N. General Assembly which he is scheduled to address on Wednesday.
Speaking Sunday on a visit to a munitions plant in Scranton, Pa., producing 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine, Zelensky said the plan took into consideration the contingency of the November U.S. presidential election and an imminent new occupant in the White House.
“The plan includes not only what is needed from Biden today. There will be a new president in the United States and we need to talk to each of the candidates,” he said.
However, it was clear Zelensky had work ahead of him to change the mind of the man making U.S. policy through Jan. 19 on the question of using U.S.-supplied long-range weapons on Russian territory after Biden reiterated Sunday that he had yet to decide.
The trip came as the Biden administration worked to rush through a new $375 million military aid package before the fiscal year-end Sept. 30 to include artillery munitions, rockets and air defense missiles as well as a medium-range missile for the country’s F-16 fighter jets donated by NATO members.
However, the deal is in limbo amid Congressional wrangling over a stop-gap government funding bill to avoid a shutdown Oct. 1.
