“You will never stand alone,” Biden assures Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky was informed by President Joe Biden that the United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” in its conflict with Russia.

On his first travel outside of the United States since the start of the Russian invasion, Mr Biden assured Mr Zelensky that “you will never stand alone.”

Mr Biden offered an additional $45 billion and announced a new package of support for Ukraine worth over $2 billion, or £1.7 billion. Mr Zelensky acknowledged his appreciation to Washington for its support.

At the joint news conference on Wednesday, Mr Biden assured reporters that maintaining the unity of the global coalition was not a concern.

The US president said he felt “quite good” about the unity of support for Ukraine, amid worries that some allies may be feeling the pressure of the conflict’s cost and interruption to the global food and energy supply.

Vladimir Putin, according to Mr Biden, “has no intention of stopping this brutal war.”

Keep Reading

• G20 members hold an emergency meeting over Poland blasts
• Kherson liberation is the “beginning of the end”: Zelensky
• Ukraine War: Poland missile not Kyiv’s fault, says Zelensky

The US has already pledged $50 billion, or £41 billion, in humanitarian, financial, and security support to Ukraine, more than any other nation. The US is also Ukraine’s most significant ally.

Mr Zelensky voiced his hope that Congress will approve the additional $45 billion in aid to Ukraine in order to “help us to defend our ideals, values, and independence” while donning his signature combat-green sweatshirt and boots.

Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives in January, have issued a warning that they would not give Ukraine a “blank check.” However, Mr Zelensky, who flew from the Polish city of Rzeszow on a US Air Force flight, declared that “despite changes in the Congress,” he thought there would be bipartisan support for his nation.

The Ukrainian president, 44, addressed a joint session of Congress after the White House meeting. He was greeted with a standing ovation. Speaking in English, he assured US lawmakers that his nation was still holding strong “against all odds” and forecasted that the situation will “turn” in the upcoming year.

He vowed that Ukraine would never capitulate and stated that it required more arms.

He informed them, “We have artillery, sure, thank you. Is it sufficient? Not really, to be honest.

More guns and shells are required, he continued, for the Russian troops to withdraw entirely.

After delivering his remarks, Mr Zelensky gave Congress a battle flag that had been signed by the defenders of Bakhmut, a frontline city in eastern Ukraine that he had visited the day before his journey to Washington.