September 22, 2023 at 2:14 a.m. EDT
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his spouse, Olena Zelenska, at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier Worldwide Airport on Thursday. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Canada in a shock go to after his journey to the US, in line with the workplace of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Zelensky had simply wrapped up a whirlwind day in Washington, the place he visited the White Home, the Pentagon and talked to congressional leaders, together with Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose get together consists of lawmakers skeptical about sending further support to Kyiv.
In a nightly handle made to the Ukrainian individuals summarizing the day’s occasions, Zelensky expressed due to President Biden for approving the newest tranche of U.S. army support. “Thanks, Mr. President Biden!” he mentioned. The Ukrainian chief additionally thanked “Congress — each events, each homes,” earlier than saying that he had “very frank, detailed conversations” with U.S. lawmakers.
Right here’s the newest on the battle and its ripple results throughout the globe.
Zelensky will spend Friday in Canada, Trudeau’s workplace mentioned. “Whereas in Ottawa, President [Zelensky] will ship an handle to Parliament,” it mentioned. Trudeau and Zelensky “will then journey to Toronto, the place they are going to meet with Canadian enterprise leaders to strengthen personal sector funding in Ukraine’s future.” Canada has offered greater than 8.9 billion Canadian {dollars}, or $6.6 billion, since January 2022, in each direct monetary support and army gear, in line with the workplace.
The Biden administration introduced a $325 million army support bundle to Ukraine. This tranche will embrace air protection methods, munitions and .50-caliber machine weapons that can be utilized in opposition to Russian drones which have terrorized Ukrainian cities and cities in current months.
In contrast to his final go to, Zelensky was not granted the chance to handle a joint session of Congress. However he was granted a big discussion board of senators to make his case for why U.S. lawmakers ought to approve the Biden administration’s request for a further $24 billion support bundle. “If we don’t get the help, we’ll lose the battle,” Zelensky informed members of the Senate in a closed-door assembly, in line with Senate Majority Chief Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Throughout his handle on the Nationwide Archives on Sept. 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US for its assist within the battle in Ukraine. (Video: The Washington Publish)
In a non-public assembly with Zelensky, McCarthy requested how open-ended the battle could be and if Kyiv is utilizing U.S.-provided weapons responsibly, The Washington Publish reported, citing individuals accustomed to the assembly. The Ukrainian facet didn’t view McCarthy’s powerful questioning as political. It considered the speaker as sympathetic however embattled, and struggling to comprise a faction in his get together that features members against giving extra support to Ukraine. McCarthy applauded Zelensky’s current choices to switch his protection minister and fireplace different senior protection officers as a part of a broader transfer aimed toward rooting out corruption, and expressed assist for offering ATACMS missiles and F-16s to Ukraine.
The US and Ukraine will create an industrial base to collectively produce weapons similar to air protection methods, Zelensky mentioned. Describing the plan as historic, he mentioned it could create new jobs for Individuals and Ukrainians, and assist deter aggression.
The US has made no determination on whether or not to provide Ukraine with ATACMS tactical missiles. White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned that whereas the missiles weren’t included in the newest support bundle, Biden had not dominated out offering them sooner or later. The system has a variety of 190 miles, and would give the Ukrainian army the power to fireplace deeper inside Russian territory.
Russia and Belarus will begin a coaching train Friday, Russian state media reported. The biennial Union Protect 2023 train will proceed till subsequent Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.
Poland threatened to cease sending extra arms to Ukraine. Warsaw will fulfill solely present contracts, Polish authorities spokesman Pitor Müller mentioned, citing Ukraine’s “completely unacceptable statements and public gestures.” Polish President Andrzej Duda appeared to backtrack the risk, saying it could nonetheless be doable for Warsaw to switch weapons from its previous military shares “simply as we have now achieved earlier than.” The remarks come as Poland and Ukraine have been engaged in a commerce feud over Ukrainian grain exports which have spilled into the markets of Central and Jap Europe, as Russian warships preserve a blockade of a lot of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
British police charged 5 Bulgarians with espionage, the BBC reported. They’re accused of conducting surveillance on targets, forging passports and identification playing cards, and passing data to Russian state safety providers from August 2020 to February this yr.
Zelensky blitzes Washington in pressing effort to bolster assist: When Zelensky final visited Washington, he obtained a hero’s welcome on the White Home and on Capitol Hill that day in December, evoking comparisons to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s wartime go to to Washington in 1941, report Tyler Pager, Abigail Hauslohner, Alexandra Heal and John Hudson. This time, Zelensky visited below starkly completely different circumstances, as some U.S. lawmakers are rising extra skeptical of offering extra support to Kyiv.
McCarthy, who has spent the week struggling to calm a tumultuous dispute amongst Home Republicans over funding the U.S. authorities, rejected Zelensky’s request to ship a joint handle to Congress due to “what we’re in the course of.” Zelensky gave such an handle when he visited Washington final yr, receiving rapturous applause from each side of the aisle.