US President Joe Biden will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday with a package of $225 million in weapons on the sidelines of D-Day anniversary events.
It will be their first face-to-face talks since Zelenskyy visited Washington in December, when the two wrestled with Republican opposition to more Ukraine aid. They will meet again next week at a G7 summit in Italy, as rich nations discuss using Russian assets frozen after the Ukraine invasion to provide $50 billion for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy told Reuters last month that Western countries are taking too long to make decisions about aid.
Biden in remarks in Normandy, France, on Thursday drew a link between the World War Two battle against tyranny and Ukraine’s war with Russia, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “dictator.”
The $225 million in new weaponry includes artillery rounds and air defense interceptors, among other items, sources said. Ukraine has struggled to defend the Kharkiv region after an offensive launched by Moscow on May 10 has overrun some villages.
Biden last week shifted his position and decided Ukraine could launch US-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia that are supporting the Kharkiv offensive.
The United States is trying to catch up with Ukraine’s weaponry needs, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said in Washington Thursday.
“If there were two things that we could provide an infinite number of to the Ukrainians to try to turn the tide in this war, it would be artillery munitions and air defense interceptors,” but the US lacked supply, Finer told a forum by the Center for a New American Security.
Furthermore, the Biden Zelenskiy meeting is an opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation between the United States and Ukraine.
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