On Wednesday, December 21, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy left for the United States, where he is going to address Congress. The Ukrainian leader’s visit to Washington was discussed between him and US President Joe Biden on December 11 during a telephone conversation.
This was announced by an unnamed senior White House official at a briefing.
It is noted that on December 14, Kyiv received an official invitation from the Biden administration. It said the visit could consist of an extended meeting with the US president, a meeting with key members of the national security team and the Biden administration, as well as an opportunity to address the press and attend a joint session of Congress.
The Ukrainian side officially accepted the invitation on December 16. Subsequently, the visit was finally confirmed on December 18.
The senior official also told the approximate program of the visit of the President of Ukraine. So, initially, Biden will receive Zelenskyу at the White House for a bilateral meeting. There will be a press conference and an opportunity to address members of the public. This will be followed by Zelensky’s speech at a joint session of Congress, which demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Ukraine.
The briefing also said that the leaders of Ukraine and the United States will discuss in-depth strategic planning for further actions on the battlefield, training opportunities for the Ukrainian military, the issue of sanctions and export controls, as well as assistance in the economic and energy sectors.
It is specified that Zelenskyу will stay in the USA for only a few hours, and then return to Ukraine.
– We look forward to the return of President Zelenskyу to the White House for his second visit, but the first since the start of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine. This is what we wanted to do for a long time, – added the representative of the White House.
Source: White House