President Zelensky Visits Washington, United States Will Distribute Additional Military Assistance of IDR 31 Trillion

President Volodymyr Zelensky, (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on his way to the United States on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden, address Congress and search for weapons, on his first foreign trip 300 days since Russia invaded his country.

President Zelensky said the visit was aimed at strengthening Ukraine's "resilience and defense capabilities", amid repeated Russian attacks on energy and water supplies in the dead of winter.

"En route to the United States to strengthen Ukraine's resilience and defense capabilities", President Zelensky wrote on his Twitter account, launching Reuters on December 21.

Separately, presidential political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said President Zelensky's visit to the US demonstrated a high level of trust between the two countries and offered him a chance to explain what weapons Kyiv needs.

"This finally puts an end to the efforts of the Russian side to substantiate the alleged cooling of our bilateral relations", Podolyak said.

"This, of course, is not close. The United States is unequivocally behind Ukraine", he said.

Meanwhile, President Biden will announce a new nearly $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, including a Patriot missile battery to help it defend against a barrage of Russian missiles, a senior US official said.

"Guns, guns, and more weapons. It is important to personally explain why we need certain types of weapons. In particular, armored vehicles, the latest missile defense systems, and long-range missiles", said Podolyak.

Zelensky's visit is expected to last several hours. He will meet President Biden and national security aides at the White House, participate in a joint press conference with the US President and then head to Capitol Hill to address a joint session of the US Senate and the House of Representatives.

It is known that the Biden Administration has provided approximately 20 billion in military assistance to Ukraine or approximately IDR 311,690,000,000,000, including artillery ammunition, ammunition for the NASAMS air defense system, and the high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS).

On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of 🇺🇦. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between 🇺🇦 and 🇺🇸. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022