The president of the United States, Joe Biden, receives his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodímir Zelenski, this Wednesday at the White House. /
Biden authorizes the sending of Patriot missiles to intercept Russian planes that destroy the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine
On his first trip abroad as president of a country at war, the presence of Volodimir Zelensky in Washington embodied in itself a message for Vladimir Putin: “I am here, in the United States, standing on the podium of the White House with the President Biden because I respect him as a human being and as a president.”
It seemed so simple that the press wanted something more, and Zelensky gave it to them. «In 2019, when I was elected president, I sent messages to Putin asking him to find a diplomatic solution to prevent him from escalating territorial aggression into a full-blown war. He told me that would never happen. He was lying. What kind of message can I send him now, after he has destroyed our lives? ».
The message was clear. Biden has met with Zelensky by videoconference on countless occasions, but, as the US president said yesterday, “nothing replaces sitting face to face with a friend.” Something that he is not willing to do with Putin, for the moment, because he believes that the Russian leader has not shown the slightest interest in withdrawing his troops to end the war that has been going on for more than 300 days. Without that, there is no negotiation possible. Biden believes that the only way to negotiate with Putin is from a position of strength, which is why he is willing to do everything in his power so that the Ukrainian president triumphs on the battlefield and can decide the terms on which he wants to negotiate.
That starts with the delivery of a battery of Patriot air defense missiles, which is part of the $1.8 billion package in military assistance that Biden signed to receive his friends. “Thank you, President,” Zelensky said. “Now I need more Patriots.” This air defense system will help Ukraine to intercept in the air the missiles that Russian planes launch against Ukrainian infrastructure, but they are not the long-range projectiles that Zelensky desperately seeks. Biden fears he could use them to attack Russia on his territory, causing a fatal escalation of the war, so the kyiv leader has yet to earn his trust.
“And why not give him everything he needs to win the war at once?” asked a Ukrainian journalist who was accompanying the president. “For two reasons,” Biden summed up. “The first is that there is a whole Alliance (of the North Atlantic Treaty, NATO) that is critical that it be with Ukraine. And the idea of giving Ukraine material that is fundamentally different from what is going there could break NATO, the European Union and the rest of the world.” The second reason is that, after spending “hundreds” of hours face-to-face discussing the situation with the allies, Biden believes they sympathize with Ukraine and understand their situation “but don’t want to go to war with Russia or start World War III.” . There is, of course, more, “but I’ve probably said too much already,” Biden caught himself.
With his joint appearance, the US president intended to demonstrate his unwavering support for the Ukrainian defense. That is exactly what he has sentenced him to, to play defense. The White House does not believe “that it is in the interest of the Ukrainian people, of Europe, and certainly of the United States” to escalate the war beyond Ukraine’s borders, said retired Admiral John Kirby, the National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator.
That was part of the conversation that Biden and Zelensky had by the fireplace in the Oval Office. While one part of the American left believes that the time has come to pressure Ukraine into negotiating peace with Russia, another part believes that the best way to shorten the war is to go on the offensive, the US ambassador to Russia told MNSBC. Russia Michael McFul, who served under Barack Obama.
shorten the war
The Patriot system, which according to retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey, deputy to Collin Powell’s chief of staff, the US only has fifty batteries, will allow Ukraine to rise higher in the sky and target the Russian aircraft, once their forces have been properly trained for their use. “But they are not something that will change the dynamics of the game,” he warned. Still, Ukraine believes that with their help within three weeks it will be able to provide its citizens with up to ten hours of electricity a day, instead of the two or three they now enjoy. “Russia is using winter as a weapon,” Biden lamented.
Zelensky still had to win over the US Congress last night, whose lower house will be in the hands of the Republican opposition from January. The Democratic Senate is about to approve another huge package of 45,000 million dollars, of which 13,500 will go to civilian aid.
The Ukrainian leader showed he knows how to soften Biden, who has been very sensitive to the value of soldiers since his eldest son Beau, who died of cancer, fought in Iraq. That is why he presented him with the Medal of Military Merit of a “brave soldier” who, according to what he said, the day before on the Donbas front asked him to deliver it on his behalf to another “brave president”, for saving his life with the help of military you provide to your country. “Does his name come from him?” Biden asked moved. I’ll make sure he gets one of ours.