Zelenskyy meets with Biden as US political divide on Ukraine war deepens

Pic/AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Washington on Thursday as the support for Ukraine's war against Russia faces a partisan reckoning in this year's US presidential elections, AP reported.

According to AP, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, has vowed to continue sending military assistance to Ukraine if she's elected, and she'll have her own meeting with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy after the leader sits down with President Joe Biden.

However, Zelenskyy's relationship with former US President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee continues to worsen this week. Trump has criticised Zelenskyy, instead of meeting with him.

As for US support for Ukraine, Trump claimed that "we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal" to end the war.

According to AP, since the start of the war with Russia three years ago, this is the most politically risky landscape that Zelenskyy has encountered in Washington. The United States being the major main provider of arms, money and other necessities to the country Ukraine, the officials are fearful to maintain good relations with whoever becomes the next US president.

But the efforts risk slipping into the political turmoil of the election, polarising the discussion around a war that used to be a bipartisan cause celebre in Washington.

The round of sniping started on Sunday when a recent interview with Zelenskyy was published by The New Yorker in which he condemned Trump's running mate, JD Vance for being "too radical" for suggesting that the nation needs to give up some territory to end the war, AP reported.

Zelenskyy also rejected Trump's comments that he could quickly negotiate a solution, claiming "my feeling is that Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how."

On the same day, Zelenskyy visited a Pennsylvania factory that produces war munitions. He was accompanied by Democratic Governor Josh Sharpio, a top surrogate for Harris. The Republicans criticised the visit as a political stunt in a political battleground state, AP reported.

House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded that Zelenskyy should dismiss the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, alleging that the tour was "designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference"

According to AP, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, would not be meeting with Zelenskyy on Thursday when he makes the rounds on Capitol Hill before heading to the White House. However, Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with a few members of the House, including the Republican chairs of several committees. He is also set to meet with senators in a bipartisan session hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Zelenskyy's trip to Washington corresponds with the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, where the Ukrainian leader spoke on Wednesdays. Last week, Trump claimed that he would "probably" meet with Zelenskyy during his US trip, but a senior campaign official said there was never a meeting scheduled.

As per AP, an official said that back in July, Trump had told the Ukrainian leader that it would probably be better not to sit down together until after the US presidential elections.

A Zelenskyy aide did not respond to questions about the potential meeting, AP reported.

During Trump's first term, he was charged over asking Zelenskyy for help investigating Biden, then a Democratic presidential nomination candidate, at a time when the Ukrainian President was seeking support from Washington.

Now there are fears that if Trump makes a return to the White House this election, that he will cut off or add strings to the US military assistance. Trump has also spoken fondly about the Russian President Vladimir Putin, also congratulating Russia this week for its record of winning wars.

According to Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Trump is justified in wanting to end the war through negotiation. But he went on to say that Trump runs the risk of weakening Ukraine by allowing Putin to gain more ground in combat.

"Neither Ukraine nor Russia is going to win this war, and the sooner that the parties try to end this, the better," Kupchan said. "Where Trump goes off course, and where Biden and Harris have a much stronger argument, is that we get to that point not by throwing Ukraine under the bus but by giving them sufficient support so they can block further Russian aggression."

Zelenskyy can expect a far different approach from Harris, who reportedly met with him in Munich just days before Russia invaded.

During her debate with Trump earlier this month, Harris expressed pride in the US support for Ukraine's "righteous defence", AP reported.

"If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now," she said.

(With inputs from AP)