Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to present a “plan for victory” in the country’s war against Russia to President Joe Biden during his visit to the United States this week.
Zelensky also plans to present the plan to Congress and to both candidates in the US presidential election: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
He is expected to step up efforts to persuade the United States and its allies to allow Ukraine to fire the missiles they have supplied deep into Russian territory for the first time since the war began.
Zelensky’s visit to the US coincides with White House efforts to prepare a new $375m (£283m) military aid package for Ukraine.
This fall “will determine the future of this war,” Zelensky wrote in a message on X.
In a statement ahead of the visit, the Ukrainian leader outlined three elements of his plan: new arms donations, diplomatic efforts to force Russia to accept peace and holding Moscow accountable for its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukraine has been asking the United States, Britain and other Western allies for months to ease restrictions on the use of long-range missiles so they can strike targets in Russia that kyiv says are being used to launch attacks.
In early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western countries that he would regard long-range missile strikes as “direct participation” of the NATO military alliance in the war.
Asked by reporters on Sunday whether he had made a decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range weapons, Biden said: “No.”
Trump has previously criticized U.S. support for Ukraine and praised Putin, but said he would “probably” meet with Zelensky.
The former president had previously spoken of his own plan to end the war “within 24 hours” if re-elected in November, but did not provide details.
According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom he met in March, Trump promised “not to give a cent to the war between Ukraine and Russia. That is why the war will end.”
Zelensky’s statement also expressed gratitude for the support provided by Ukraine’s allies to date, singling out the United States in particular as its “main supporter.”
The United States has been the largest foreign donor to Ukraine, providing $56 billion for its defense to date.
After arriving in the United States on Sunday, Zelensky stopped in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to tour a munitions factory involved in supplying the Ukrainian war effort.
After Washington, Zelensky is expected to travel to New York and the United Nations for a scheduled Security Council meeting on Tuesday and a speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday.
