Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Joe Biden and key members of Congress in Washington next week, a person familiar with the plans confirmed to POLITICO on Thursday evening.
Zelenskyy’s stop-off in Washington will follow his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he hopes to shore up support for his country in the war against Russia.
Zelenskyy will meet with Biden at the White House next Thursday and will also visit Capitol Hill, The Associated Press reported.
Zelenskyy previously traveled to Washington in December 2022, on what was his first foreign trip since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the previous February. During that trip, which included a visit to the White House and an address to Congress, the Ukrainian president sought further aid for his country, arguing that continued military and humanitarian assistance were both worthwhile and necessary. There is little doubt he will make a similar case this time around.
However, Zelenskyy’s upcoming visit coincides with a legislative impasse in Congress over federal spending, where the additional $21 billion in aid for Ukraine requested by Biden seem increasingly unlikely as Republican lawmakers push for broad cuts.
Details of the visit, which was first reported by Punchbowl News, have not yet been made public.
Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.