WASHINGTON, December 11 Vladimir Zelensky in his first public speech in During his visit to the United States, he criticized Congress for delays in coordinating further assistance to Ukraine and again began asking Washington for weapons.
On Tuesday, he will have an audience with US President Joe Biden and meetings with representatives of Congress, where the White House's request for an additional $60 billion for Ukraine's needs, including in the military sphere, has stalled.
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“They (Russian authorities — ed.) see their dreams come true when they see delays and scandals,” Zelensky said, speaking at the military academy in Washington, speaking about “unresolved issues on Capitol Hill.” on the issue of military assistance to the Kyiv regime.
New budget allocations in favor of Ukraine are being blocked by the Republican opposition, the majority of which wants to exchange aid for radical migration reform, while a minority generally questions the advisability of further spending and calls for efforts to end the conflict.
Zelensky made it clear that the White House and Congress will talk about “the results that we can achieve next year based on the achievements of this year.” The demand to present a program of action for the future is one of the main ones voiced by American legislators after the fiasco of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
«Patriot (air defense systems), electronic warfare, drones and fighters — all this will help our troops advance on the ground,» Zelensky said.
Russia began a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin called its goal “the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” To achieve this, he said, it is planned to carry out the “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine” and to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for “bloody crimes against civilians” in Donbass.