Zelensky says the region can’t wait until the United States elections in November to push back against Putin

WASHINGTON (AP) – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Said on Tuesday that decisive action must be taken to thwart Russia’s attack against his country before the US presidential election in November, using an agreement on the sidelines of a NATO summit to press for better aid. will be. An important and tumultuous period in the political calendar of the United States.

“This is the time to come out of the shadows and take strong decisions to act, not wait for November or any other month to arrive. We must be strong and uncompromising together,” Zelensky said.

Talks have been going on in Washington for 4 months before an election The following is surrounded by new confusion President Joe Biden’s shaky debate efficiencyHe targeted his message at Republicans, whose NATO-rival leader appears better positioned to win back the presidency.

Zelensky said the US president “must be uncompromising in defending democracy, against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his circle.”

Zelensky has publicly and time and again confirmed himself to be an adept navigator of the world family for the security of his war-torn nation. complain loudly To get military help it would have to protect itself against Russia.

This untouched trip to Washington took place against the backdrop of a Brand new continuum of support — Biden announced last Tuesday that dozens of wind defense systems would be sent to Ukraine via NATO allies — but also before an election that could swing power. Zelensky said he expected the race to remain unchanged in coverage.

The Ukrainian chief sought to downplay the potential consequences of a victory for Donald Trump, who is skeptical of NATO and has criticized the Biden administration’s support for Kiev throughout Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. Zelensky spoke at the Reagan Institute, named for the next Republican icon Ronald Reagan, and his appeal for assistance was directed at a target market of GOP heavyweights that included Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell. Zelensky will meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

“I hope that if the American people elect President Trump, I hope that his policy with Ukraine will not change,” Zelensky said in a question-and-answer consultation with Fox Information host Brett Baier after his pronouncement. “I hope the United States never leaves NATO.”

In a different way, he said, “the world will lose a lot of countries” that “rely on America.”

Zelensky, who will hold a remote meeting with Biden on Thursday, said he does not know Trump well but had great meetings with him when he was president. However, he added that they had not traveled together during the Russia–Ukraine War, and had only traveled together during a shared experience, allowing one to understand “whether you can trust someone or not.”

As President, Trump was impeached once In late 2019 the House of Representatives pressured Zelensky to announce an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter, occasioning the withholding of $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. Biden was currently campaigning to defeat Trump in the 2020 election. Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.

Despite the new aid announced Tuesday and the nice and cozy embrace he received from the Republican-dominated target market at the Reagan Institute, Zelensky revealed that his most coveted prize – the club into military alliances – remains elusive. The European Union and North American countries that make up NATO disagree over whether to accept Ukraine, especially if it engages in active hostilities with Russia that could draw them into a broader conflict.

Zelensky, who was hailed as a supporter of independence in Washington after Russia’s 2022 invasion but was forced to make his case for aid to US lawmakers at high speed, found himself once again in trouble. Found as a bridesmaid in the American capital. ,

At the NATO summit, he’s trying to navigate a choppy US political terrain Biden is trying to overturn his power The ability to secure prominence on the international stage and the coalition’s most notable member, despite debate following uneasiness among some fellow Democrats about his ability to serve another four years.

Meanwhile, Trump has criticized allies for not meeting defense spending targets and has raised issues in Europe about continued US aid to NATO and Ukraine. His Republican supporters in Congress were responsible for a month of US military aid, which allowed Russia to gain access to the grasslands against Ukraine’s weakened forces.

At a rally in Florida on Tuesday night, Trump once again sought to take credit for NATO member states’ choice to meet defense spending targets, declaring that when he addressed NATO participants for the first time as president, So “no one was paying.” However, reform work came to light only after the Ukraine war began and while Biden was president.

Meanwhile, the stakes have never been higher for Zelensky. Russia revealed this on Monday Heaviest bombardment on Kiev in almost 4 months and one of the deadliest clashes, which destroyed part of Ukraine’s largest children’s clinic.

Against that backdrop, Biden announced the US and alternative NATO participants would send dozens of air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming months, including at least four tough Patriot systems, which it is desperately seeking to fight off Russian advances. . Conflict.

In the coming days, Zelensky will focus on aid from international locations that have poured guns into his country, despite the US and EU lagging behind in providing additional aid.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country is the second richest nation in NATO, says, “Germany stands firmly by the side of the Ukrainian people, especially in these difficult times.”

However, calls for participation in the alliance are not in the cards, despite Russia’s undisguised moves to provide aid to Ukraine. NATO will not admit any new members until the conflict is resolved.

Rather, it is going to provide Zelensky with what officials are calling a “bridge to membership.” It aims to implement governmental, financial and law-related reforms, as well as clear duties that Ukraine must satisfy in order to join.

Many in Ukraine see the NATO club as the only way to provide protection from months of Russian aggression once the war ends. However, the years-long conflict, which has cost thousands of Ukrainian lives, has left many disillusioned and skeptical that their country will ever join the Western alliance.

Analysts say that while Zelensky has been largely an international hit baby-kisser, he is struggling to maintain his reputation in Ukraine, which has been eroded partly as a result of old questions over corruption.

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AP writer Hanna Arhirova in Kiev, Ukraine contributed to this file.