The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, left the borders of his country tonight (Wednesday), for the first time since the outbreak of the war with Russia, and will land today in Washington, where he will address the American Congress. Walla! reporter and commentator, Barak Ravid, spoke this morning with Nissim Mashal and Guy Peleg on 103FM and analyzed the meaning of the move.
For the first time since the outbreak of the war – Ukrainian President Zelensky is expected to visit Washington
“It’s a very dramatic move. The last time Zelensky left Ukraine was, if I’m not mistaken, two days before the Russian invasion. He then went to the Davos conference or something like that to speak against the war, and I remember they interviewed him and asked him if he wasn’t afraid to come, because he might not be He had nowhere to return and he said, ‘No, I left and I will return because my people are with me and we are not afraid of anyone.’ When we remember this today and see the 300 days that have passed since then, it is truly an amazing thing, how 300 days later, the first time Zelensky leaves the country and if Comparing it to the same previous trip, he now comes out much stronger both internationally and politically,” Ravid began his words.
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“He doesn’t take off from Ukraine, right? Civilian planes can’t take off from Ukraine. He probably made his way secretly to one of the countries, to Moldova or Poland and took off from there, so he probably already set out on this journey yesterday, and there are two very dramatic events in this visit to Washington that, by the way, are also related to American politics To a certain extent, it is even somewhat reminiscent of other speeches in Congress that also had an internal American political meaning and not only for that foreign leader. He will also have a meeting with President Biden, in which Biden is expected to sign the same $1.8 billion aid grant for Ukraine, for missile batteries “From Patriot and precision bombs to fighter jets of the Air Force of Ukraine, and then he will go to Congress to give a speech there in front of Congress,” he added.
“This speech is important to Zelensky, not only because of the international resonance, but because Congress needs to approve an even bigger package of $45 billion, and Congress needs to approve it just before the majority changes in the House of Representatives, and among the Republicans there were quite a few members of Congress who opposed aid to Ukraine. That’s why I think that this speech by Zelensky in Congress will put a lot of Republicans in a problem, about how after such a dramatic event they go and vote against aid to Ukraine. I think this is part of the exercise that Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, did here, maybe in her last move in American politics before that she is retiring,” continued Ravid.
When asked if the visit signals Zelensky’s willingness to strive for a compromise agreement with Putin that would end the war, Ravid replied: “It is not evident at the moment, and I am also not sure that even if he wants a compromise agreement, I am not sure that the minimum meets Zelensky’s maximum, at least not in the future The visible. And I think that Putin is now going to the winter in Ukraine and Europe and he is also looking and saying, ‘Maybe I won’t be able to win as I wanted, but maybe in the long run I will also be able to wear out the Ukrainians, the Americans, the Europeans, and especially the public opinion in all these countries.’ . In the winter when energy prices go up and it gets very cold then people might want to make a different calculation about supporting Ukraine. I think that’s Putin’s strategy now.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Sputnik Mikhail Metzel Pool via)“This visit by Zelensky also has a connection to us, and that connection is that Netanyahu returns to the Prime Minister’s office when such an event happens, and this event sends a message to many leaders in the world about the change that has happened. That is, the Netanyahu of before the war in Ukraine and the way he conducted himself in the world cannot be the same the day after. He returns to another world, he will no longer be able to play her as Putin’s best friend. Leaders who flirt with non-democratic and non-liberal ideas find it much more difficult to maintain relations with the Western world today. That’s why this speech by Zelensky is important for us as well, for what is happening here in the State of Israel,” Ravid concluded his words.
Assisted in the preparation of the article: Amitai Doak, 103fm