In risky venture out of Ukraine, Zelensky gets warm U.S. welcome — and Patriot missiles

As Washington prepared for a risky wartime visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, the Biden administration announced $1.8 billion in new aid to Ukraine, including a sophisticated Patriot missile battery that the country’s military has long sought.

Zelensky’s visit to D.C., his first known trip outside his nation since Russia invaded 300 days ago, was a close-guarded secret until the eve of his arrival. It is fraught with risk and danger and shrouded in extreme security measures.

The youthful leader, whose nightly video addresses have served as an important morale booster to his people, was scheduled to meet with President Biden, Cabinet members and the U.S. national security team. He will later meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and deliver a speech to Congress on Capitol Hill.

Zelensky has also used video communication to make impassioned pleas for help to national legislative bodies the world over, as well as the United Nations and gatherings of world leaders at major summits.

An in-person appearance in the capital of Ukraine’s most important ally carries extraordinary significance. Zelensky will be able to emphasize that Ukraine has defied predictions of a swift collapse in the face of Russian military might. He will also be able to draw more attention to his country’s need for continued support.

As some Republicans begin to question whether military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine should continue at current levels, and as certain parts of the U.S. public begin to show signs of impatience with the war effort, Zelensky’s call for steadfast American backing has taken on added urgency.

On Wednesday morning, just hours before Zelensky’s arrival, Biden announced a new tranche of $1.8 billion in aid. That aid will include a Patriot missile battery, the surface-to-air guided missile system Kyiv has requested for months, according to a senior administration official. U.S. forces will train Ukrainians on using the system in a third country, the official said, and “Ukrainian troops will take that training back to their country to operate this battery.”

Lawmakers are also preparing to vote on a $1.7-trillion end-of-year funding bill for 2023 that includes $45 billion of additional economic and security assistance for Ukraine. Some House Republicans have expressed reluctance to approve more assistance for Ukraine after they take control of the lower chamber next year, but a senior administration official told reporters the White House is “confident” of continued bipartisan support for Kyiv. Zelensky’s appearance on Capitol Hill would underscore that commitment, the official added.

“This isn’t about sending a message to a political party. This is about sending a message to [Vladimir] Putin and sending a message to the world that America will be there for Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said the official, who briefed reporters the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the trip.

In remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that continued support for Ukraine was not only morally right but “a direct investment in cold, hard, American interests.”

Defeating Russia, McConnell said, would also “send a stark warning” to China.

Zelensky’s meeting with Biden will be his second appearance at the White House. The two leaders first met in September 2021, when Biden reiterated his administration’s commitment to “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression” and American support for Kyiv’s “Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”

Biden invited Zelensky for this visit when the two spoke by phone on Dec. 11; a formal invitation followed three days later, according to an official. Zelensky accepted the invite on Friday. On Sunday, the White House began coordinating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to arrange Zelensky’s appearance before Congress. Pelosi hinted at Zelensky’s visit in a letter to colleagues on Tuesday, urging members to appear in person “for a very special focus on Democracy.”

In announcing the joint session of Congress, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, Pelosi said Zelensky’s appearance recalled Winston Churchill’s congressional visit on the day after Christmas in 1941 to win American support in World War II. Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was a member of the House at the time.

“Eighty-one years later this week, it is particularly poignant for me to be present when another heroic leader addresses the Congress in a time of war — and with Democracy itself on the line,” she wrote.

The Ukrainian president has become a household name in Washington, having played a key role in former President Trump’s first impeachment trial. As a newly elected president, Zelensky received a call from Trump threatening to cut off military aid to Ukraine unless he dug up dirt on Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Joe Biden, then a Democratic rival preparing to launch his presidential bid, had led an anti-corruption push in Ukraine as vice president.

Ukraine had already been at limited war with Russia, after Putin invaded and illegally annexed Crimea, Ukraine’s southern Black Sea peninsula, in 2014.