biography ukraine president

Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy? The past, present and future of the Ukrainian president

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy  met with President Joe Biden  in December 2022 in the U.S., marking his first trip outside of Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of the country in February. 

Biden invited Zelenskyy to address Congress to reinforce the U.S. “stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Zelenskyy has entered the international eye largely since the war began and is TIME Magazine's Person of the Year 2022 .

Here’s what you need to know about the Ukrainian leader:

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Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy?

Zelenskyy is the sixth President of Ukraine, elected in April 2019. The 44-year-old unseated incumbent Petro Poroshenko with 73% of the vote. Poroshenko had been in office since 2014. 

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Zelenskyy has been the face of Ukrainian resistance, notably for his visibility online and his pleas to other countries for support. When Russian state media began spreading misinformation that Zelenskyy had fled Kyiv, Zelenskyy filmed himself in the streets of the capital saying that he would not leave Ukraine. He also declined the U.S. invitation to help him evacuate the city, saying “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

• Zelenskyy was born in southern Ukraine in 1978 and is fluent in Russian, Ukrainian and English. He relocated to Mongolia with his family as a child before returning to Ukraine and entering school. 
• Zelenskyy graduated with a law degree from Kyiv National Economic University, but became active in theater as a student and would later pursue that rather than law. 
• Zelenskyy's grandfather, Semyon Ivanovich Zelenskyy, fought for the Soviet Union during World War II. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, had family members who were killed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

Shortly before his inauguration in 2019, Zelenskyy visited the grave of his grandfather in his hometown of Kryvy Rih on May 9 in what he called his family's "Thanksgiving," also known as Victory Day: the anniversary of the day Nazi Germany surrendered.

"Thanksgiving for the fact that the inhuman ideology of Nazism is a thing of the past, thanksgiving to those who fought against Nazism – and won, thanksgiving everyone for the opportunity to be born and live," he wrote in a Facebook post . "No one has the right to privatize this victory, to say that it could have happened without Ukrainians. We remember those who had lost their lives. And we honor those who are still alive, there are very few of them left."

Before he was President, Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian

Zelenskyy’s career in entertainment includes comedy, acting, screenwriting, producing and directing roles. In 2003, he founded production company Studio Kvartal 95 with school friends. Kvartal 95 produces films, cartoons and comedy shows, including “Servant of the People,” perhaps Zelenskyy’s most well-known role other than the highest seat in Ukraine. 

In “Servant of the People,” which ran from 2015-2019, Zelenskyy plays a Ukrainian high school teacher whose tirade against government corruption goes viral and lands him as president of Ukraine. 

It was this show that served as Zelenskyy’s path forward into the presidency — the show was a hit and Kvartal 95 registered Servant of the People as a political party in Ukraine in 2018 to promote Zelenskyy’s campaign. Servant of the People follows a “Ukrainian centrism” approach when it comes to ideology, rather than nationalism, communism or neoliberalism, Kyiv Post reports.

Zelenskyy and the United States

It was a conversation between former President Donald trump and Zelenskyy that led to the House filing an impeachment inquiry against Trump in 2019.

In August 2019, an unnamed official in the intelligence community filed a complaint saying Trump had a phone call with Zelenskyy. In the call, Trump urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Burisma Group, a Ukrainian energy company for which President Joe Biden's son Hunter had served on the board of directors, as his administration was holding up millions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine approved by Congress.

After Trump was acquitted, Zelenskyy pushed back on Trump's claims that Ukraine was a corrupt country.

Most of the Biden administration's relations with Ukraine have been concerning the Russian invasion. In 2021, Zelenskyy appealed to Biden to let Ukraine join NATO. Despite a long standing intention to join, Ukraine is still not a NATO member but is a NATO partner country. 

Zelenskyy's visit to the U.S. marks the 300th day since Russian invasion. The U.S. has provided about $68 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and lawmakers are about to vote on an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance. 

Biden and Zelenskyy are scheduled to hold a joint press conference Wednesday, and the U.S. president is expected to commit $2 billion in additional U.S. security assistance to Ukraine amid Russian missile and drone bombing. 

What is NATO?: History, facts, members and why it was created

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Who is Zelenskyy’s wife?

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska is a longtime comedy writer. She was born to an engineer and professor and was in junior high school when Ukraine gained independence in 1991. She and Zelenskyy — last names are gendered in Ukrainian — met in high school and started dating in university, she told Vogue. 

Zelenska graduated with a degree in architecture but, like her husband, wanted to pursue satirical comedy. Zelenska helped found Kvartal 95.

Zelenska traveled to the U.S. to appeal to Congress in July, asking for the U.S. to stand with Ukraine and provide more weapons to protect the country. She also thanked the U.S. for the billions of dollars already committed to aiding Ukraine. 

"You help us and your help is very strong," Zelenska said. "While Russia kills, America  saves, and you should know about it. We thank you for that."

In an interview with NBC News, Zelenska noted the toll the Russian invasion has taken on children.

“Before the war, my son used to go to the folk dance ensemble. He played piano. He learned English. He of course attended sports club,” Zelenska said through a translator . “And now, I cannot bring him back to doing arts and humanities. The only thing he wants to do is martial arts and how to use a rifle.” 

The pair share two children, Kyryrlo, 9, and Oleksandra, 18. 

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza

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3 years ago Zelenskyy was a TV comedian. Now he’s standing up to Putin’s army.

Three years ago, he was playing a president in a popular television comedy. Today, he is Ukraine’s president, confronting Russia’s fearsome military might .

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is leading his country during an invasion that threatens to explode into the worst conflict in Europe’s post-World War II history.

On Friday, as Russian troops reached Kyiv , he posted a defiant handheld video to social media showing him next to the presidential palace in the heart of the Ukrainian capital, surrounded by members of his Cabinet. 

“We are all here,” he said. “We are defending our independence, our country.” 

The message capped a head-spinning transformation of a man whose job used to be making jokes on television into a wartime leader. Who is this man at the helm as Ukraine faces the gravest of challenges? 

Zelenskyy, 44, who was elected president in 2019, was educated as a lawyer, but found his true calling as an entertainer.

Married to Olena Zelenska, with whom he has two children, he was born in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in the then-Soviet Union to Jewish parents. 

His family’s story tracks his homeland’s and the continent’s bloody history: He has said three of his grandfather’s brothers were killed by Nazi occupiers, while his grandfather survived WWII.

Raised during communism, Zelenskyy went into politics months before the 2019 election with no prior experience or solid policies. Instead, he ran on a promise to inject integrity into his country’s leadership.

Unlike many of his counterparts in the region, his past did not turn him into a dour politician in the Soviet mold. On the contrary, his public persona is encapsulated by one of his best-known quips: “You don’t need experience to be president. You just need to be a decent human being.”

As a product of the entertainment industry, he is known for his personable style and his ability to speak to people of all kinds. 

“He is quite empathetic as a person. He finds good connections with people,” said Orysia Lutsevych, a research fellow at the London think tank Chatham House. “That’s why he’s successful in politics.” 

A native Russian speaker, Zelenskyy used his charisma and immense popularity to win a landslide victory , supported by voters in Ukraine’s south and east — where millions of Russian-speaking Ukrainians felt disenfranchised by previous administrations. It is this alienation that Russia has tried to capitalize on by supporting separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years. 

This week’s invasion, which came after months of Russia massing troops on Ukraine’s borders and demands from President Vladimir Putin that NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance, is not the first time Zelenskyy has been thrust into the spotlight. 

Just months into his presidency, a phone conversation in which then-President Donald Trump pressed him to investigate corruption allegations against Joe Biden garnered international attention. The scandal led to the first impeachment of Trump, who was acquitted in early 2020.

By this time, Zelenskyy had already disrupted the Ukrainian political system, bringing into the government people who wanted to modernize the country, Lutsevych said. 

He tried to rein in Ukraine’s rampant corruption and disrupt the existing pillars of power, but “didn’t muster enough political power to crack the bone of Ukrainian corruption within the system,” she added. 

At the same time, he’s been praised by many in Ukraine for keeping the country of 44 million firmly on a pro-Western path. Russia and Ukraine stayed aligned after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, but began drifting apart in the 2000s as Kyiv sought deeper integration with Europe. 

In 2014, pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych was swept from power after refusing to sign an association agreement with the European Union. 

The mere fact that Ukraine is a democracy has been threatening to the Kremlin, and Russian officials accuse Zelenskyy of being a Western “marionette.” He is often mocked by the Kremlin’s propagandists as being incapable. 

Zelenskyy has also been criticized for not delivering on his biggest campaign promise — to end the long-simmering war between government forces and the Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east. The conflict that has left 14,000 dead became a flashpoint last week after Russia officially recognized the breakaway territories, Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. The move paved the way for the invasion days later. 

While rallying support for Ukraine as tensions rose in the run-up to the invasion, Zelenskyy chose to play down dire warnings coming out of Washington that Moscow was about to attack, saying it was hurting Ukraine’s already fragile economy and morale.

He spooked the markets and sent the foreign media into a frenzy earlier this month when — in his characteristically sarcastic style — he appeared to say in a speech that Russia would attack on Feb. 16, later clarifying he was only referring to media reports of an invasion on this date. 

Many questioned his calm tone as being too relaxed, even making him the butt of a joke for American late night show hosts. 

But as it became clear last week, Ukraine was running out of diplomatic options to appease Putin, and while Zelenskyy still preached calm, he took on a more serious tone. He insisted Ukraine was ready for any threat while calling for peace.

Assessing Zelenskyy’s performance in the lead-up to the invasion and as commander in chief, Valentyn Gladkykh, a Kyiv-based political analyst, told NBC News that the Ukrainian president had managed to morph into a wartime leader and, for now, Ukrainian society, including his peacetime opponents, seem to be supporting him.

“No Ukrainian president has ever dealt with a full-on invasion on his territory,” Gladkykh said. “Having encountered the unprecedented threat, Zelenskyy has shown his best side.” 

But his best side may not be enough — he and Ukraine are trapped in a true David and Goliath contest. Vast nuclear-powered Russia spans 11 time zones and its army counts as one of the largest in the world, leaving the army of Texas-size Ukraine outnumbered and outgunned. 

The contrast isn’t only down to size and military might. Within hours of Russia’s first strikes, the difference between Zelenskyy and his counterpart in the Kremlin could not have been more stark.

In his address to justify an incursion into Ukraine late Wednesday, a typically expressionless Putin spoke in his stern ex-KGB officer tone, invoking Russia’s nuclear arsenal and warning anyone who tries to stop him. 

“No one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to defeat and dire consequences for any potential aggressor,” he said. 

A few hours earlier, a visibly exhausted Zelenskyy delivered an impassioned, last-minute plea for peace, appealing to Russian citizens directly — in Russian . 

“The people of Ukraine want peace,” he said, warning about the devastation that the war would bring to both people.

“If the Russian leaders don’t want to sit with us behind the table for the sake of peace, maybe they will sit behind the table with you,” Zelenskyy pleaded . “Do Russians want war? I would like to know the answer. But the answer depends only on you.”

Even as Putin’s bombs started falling on Ukrainian soil, Zelenskyy urged Russians to speak up against the war. He thanked those who did Friday, saying “keep fighting for us.”

There is widespread speculation among observers that Putin’s endgame in Ukraine might be to topple Zelenskyy and to install a president more willing to bend before Moscow. Last month, ​​Britain said the Kremlin was seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine as part of its plans for an invasion . 

“They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying its head of state,” Zelenskyy said Thursday, saying he was now “target No. 1” for the Russian forces, but vowed to remain in the capital. 

Later Friday, Putin urged Ukrainian soldiers to overthrow their government, even as he suggested he might be willing to enter talks while his forces continued their advance across the country .

But Zelenskyy is left with few options as the Russian offensive intensifies. He could concede ground to Moscow, a move that is likely to be unpopular with many Ukrainians, or hold his position and face the full wrath of the Russian army.

For now, he remains defiant. 

“It will continue like this,” he said in the video posted Friday. “Glory to our defenders, glory to Ukraine.” 

Yuliya Talmazan is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London.

Who is Ukraine’s president? And can he handle this crisis?

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As Russia moves ahead with its invasion of Ukraine , world leaders and the public have turned to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for on-the-ground information and signals of what may happen next.

The former comedy sketch artist, who won a shocking landslide victory as a political outsider in 2019, has now been forced to declare martial law in his embattled nation and is encouraging his compatriots to take up arms.

And many are starting to wonder whether their 44-year-old president has the smarts and strength to lead through such a perilous moment .

Here’s what we know:

Who is the president of Ukraine?

Before Zelensky made a name for himself in politics, the Russian-speaking entertainer found fame with his comedy troupe, Kvartal 95. He starred in “Servant of the People,” a popular sitcom about a history teacher who gets elected president after a viral video depicts his rant about corruption.

Life imitated art, with Zelensky becoming Ukraine’s real-life president in 2019.

During his presidential bid, Zelensky positioned himself as a political outsider, eager and willing to shake up the establishment. His platform was primarily focused on two goals: breaking up unscrupulous oligarchs’ economic power and ending the war in the east.

Though the specifics of his plans were unclear, the former comedian handily defeated President Petro Poroshenko, who made his fortune in the candy business as Ukraine’s so-called “chocolate king.”

World & Nation

Ukraine’s comic-turned-president finds Russia showdown a deadly serious matter

Some Ukrainians are starting to wonder whether their neophyte leader has the smarts and strength to lead them through a moment of peril.

Feb. 14, 2022

How do the Ukrainians feel about him?

Despite his landslide victory and a year and a half of relative popularity, the faith of the Ukrainian people in their president largely disappeared after Russia’s first troop buildup began last spring. Recent polls indicate that twice as many Ukrainians don’t trust him as those who do.

Some point fingers at Zelensky’s inner circle, many of them with more experience in the comedy industry than in government.

“Since the beginning of the current tensions last year, Zelensky lost the public’s trust,” Maria Zolkina, a political analyst with the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a Kyiv-based think tank, told The Times.

In the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky urged Ukranians to remain calm and demanded proof of an impending Russian attack, as the U.S. and NATO insisted a crisis could explode at any time.

As Russia unleashes war in Ukraine, world leaders condemn attack

As Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashes war in Ukraine, world leaders in Europe and beyond condemn Russia’s aggression.

Feb. 25, 2022

Now, Russia has moved forward with its assault on Ukraine, with airstrikes targeting the country’s defenses, explosions echoing across cities and troops crossing the border by land and sea.

On Thursday, a presidential adviser said Russian forces succeeded in taking control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in April 1986.

“Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated,” Zelensky said on Twitter . “This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe.”

What’s next?

As Zelensky deals with attacks on his home soil, President Biden on Thursday said he was imposing severe sanctions on Russia for its “premeditated attack” on Ukraine.

The sanctions are meant to “limit the ability of Russia to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen,” Biden said. “We are going to stunt the ability of [Moscow] to finance and grow the Russian military.”

The U.S. also will deploy approximately 7,000 additional service members to Europe. The move is meant to reassure NATO Allies and discourage further aggression from Russia.

Meanwhile, the U.N announced it is freeing $20 million for humanitarian needs in Ukraine.

“Stop the military operation. Bring the troops back to Russia,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged at U.N. headquarters in New York.

“It’s not too late to save this generation from the scourge of war,” Guterres said.

More to Read

Zelensky signals shakeup of Ukraine’s military leadership is imminent

Feb. 5, 2024

Author of new book on Ukraine’s Zelensky says Russian invasion turned him into ‘this bulldog’

Jan. 29, 2024

Zelensky calls Trump’s rhetoric about Russia’s war on Ukraine ‘very dangerous’

Jan. 20, 2024

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How war changed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Dave Davies

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy sings the national anthem during a visit to the city of Izium, in the Kharkiv, Sept. 14, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP hide caption

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy sings the national anthem during a visit to the city of Izium, in the Kharkiv, Sept. 14, 2022.

Nearly two years into Russia's war in Ukraine , Time correspondent Simon Shuster says Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is "almost unrecognizable" from the happy-go-lucky, optimistic comedian Shuster first met in 2019.

"There's just a toughness and a certain darkness about him now that really didn't exist before," Shuster says of the former sitcom star. "He's still extremely committed to this war, to winning this war. ... And he's very single minded, almost obsessive, in pursuing that goal."

Shuster, who has a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother, has been reporting on the region for 17 years and spent months embedded with Zelenskyy's team in Kyiv as the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolded in February 2022. His new book is The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky.

Reporter describes an astounding amount of military hardware going in to help Ukraine

Although the U.S. had warned that a Russian invasion was imminent, Shuster writes that Zelenskyy did not believe that the capital would be attacked. In fact, Shuster says, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska was "totally shocked" by the invasion, and hadn't even packed a suitcase.

From the very beginning, Shuster says Zelenskyy drew on his background as an entertainer to help communicate the Ukrainian plight to a broader audience — even as he worried that the world's attention would eventually fade.

Ukraine invasion — explained

"Often his military tactical decisions were guided by a desire to have these demonstrative victories, something that could really grab the world's attention, whether it's bombing the bridge that connects Russia to Crimea, or various battles ... that maybe were not strategically the most important, but they were dramatic," Shuster says.

Shuster says, looking ahead, that Zelenskyy and his team are open to negotiating for peace with Russia, but they are also developing ways to sustain the war — even if Western support declines.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy went from comedian to icon of democracy. This is how he did it

"President Zelenskyy and his team have a clear vision of where this goes next," Shuster says. "They ... are actively developing ways to sustain the fight, not to be pushed into a capitulation or a negotiation that they don't want to participate in, and to continue fighting on their own resources, their own weapons."

Interview highlights

On Zelenskyy's reaction to the destruction and atrocities in Bucha

Zelenskyy takes center stage in Davos as he tries to rally support for Ukraine

On a personal level, it was absolutely devastating to him. I think, to an extent, that surprised me; he really takes the suffering of civilians close to the heart. He doesn't see them as some kind of abstract mass, sacrificing for the nation. He really feels the pain of individual victims of this war. So that day when he went to Bucha and he saw the atrocities committed there, hundreds of civilians massacred, some tortured, it was just the worst kinds of scenes you could imagine at war time, he was deeply affected by that emotionally.

In Bucha, death, devastation and a graveyard of mines

Ravaged by Russian troops, Bucha rises from the ashes

He later described it as the worst day of that tragic year. He said it taught him that the devil is not far away, not some figment of our imagination but he's right here on this earth. He said he saw the work of the devil there in Bucha. The next phase, when he sort of took in that pain, he moved on to the next stage of the war. He still had a war to fight. And he invited the media to visit Bucha ... and he began inviting his international partners and allies, Europeans, Americans from all over the world. Every time they made a visit to President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, he encouraged them to visit Bucha, to see it for themselves. ... They saw the atrocities for themselves, and it would encourage them to maintain a much higher level of support when they went back home to their capitals after having seen up close the mass graves and the real evidence of Russian war crimes.

On surprising concessions Zelenskyy was willing to make in negotiations with Russia

They continued the negotiations even after the atrocities were revealed in Bucha — even after many of Zelenskyy's own advisers told him, 'We can't go on with these negotiations. We can't talk to these monsters after what they've done to us.' Zelenskyy would continue insisting that no, even though this is a genocidal war, we need to continue trying to find peace at the negotiating table. So they did offer a series of concessions, very serious ones. One of them, the main one was this idea of permanent neutrality. So Ukraine would agree to give up its ambition of joining the NATO alliance. This was one of the main excuses that Vladimir Putin used to justify this horrific invasion, that he wanted to stop NATO from admitting Ukraine. Not that NATO had any plans to admit Ukraine anytime soon, but this was kind of one of the paranoid risks that Putin pointed to. So Zelenskyy said, alright, if that's what you're afraid of, we will make a formal commitment to remain neutral. He even agreed that any military exercises that involve foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine would not happen without Russian approval, if Russia saw those exercises as a risk. So he was willing to really go far in granting concessions early in the invasion. And those negotiations gradually broke apart. One of the reasons was Bucha and the atrocities uncovered. But I think also what we saw was that in April, there were a series of victories that Ukraine achieved on the battlefield that convinced Zelenskyy that, hey, maybe we should see how far we can push this militarily while we have the momentum. Maybe we don't need to negotiate right now. Maybe we fight first, push the Russians back, and then potentially negotiate from a position of strength.

On the July 2019 phone call between Zelenzkyy and President Trump, which later became the basis of Trump's first impeachment

If you read closely the White House transcript that was later released of that phone call, at the end Trump promises to arrange a visit for Zelenskyy to the White House. And it's hard to overstate the importance of that kind of visit for any Ukrainian leader. The United States is by far the most important ally, not only because of relying on U.S. weapons, but also for political support, diplomatic support, financial aid loans. Any incoming Ukrainian president, any Ukrainian president, period, needs to constantly demonstrate the strength of his or her relationship with the United States.

READ: House Intel Committee Releases Whistleblower Complaint On Trump-Ukraine Call

So for Zelenskyy coming in, that was priority number one in the international arena to visit the White House, to sit there with the U.S. president, whoever it may be, and to demonstrate to the people back in Ukraine that, look, under my leadership, this relationship will continue to grow stronger, certainly won't grow weaker. So that was what was going through Zelenskyy's mind for the most part at the time. And when, at the end of that phone call, Trump said, "OK, sure. Come on down to Washington and we'll arrange this visit," they saw that as quite an accomplishment. So when they put down the phone as one of the participants, on the Ukrainian side told me, there was some jubilation in the room on the Ukrainian side, and they actually went to a neighboring room and they had some ice cream to celebrate.

On what lesson Zelenskyy drew from Trump's first impeachment

I talked to a number of the people whose messages wound up projected onto the big screens in the hearing rooms during the impeachment inquiry in Congress. Imagine what that feels like. You're a state official in Ukraine. You're having confidential, classified conversations with your counterparts in the United States. You're assuming that those conversations, text messages, emails are going to remain private. And then you turn on CNN and you see your messages projected onto the screen for the world to see. That was very humiliating. It was very demeaning. In many cases, the U.S. authorities did not consult with the Ukrainians before publishing those communications. So that was quite annoying. One close adviser to Zelenskyy called it a cold shower. That was one of the milder phrases used to describe that experience.

In the middle of the impeachment hearings, I sat down with President Zelenskyy in his office, for one of our interviews that is described in the book, and it was maybe one of the lowest points that I'd seen him. He was at the time preparing also simultaneously for his first sit down negotiations with Vladimir Putin. The goals of those negotiations were to end the separatist conflict in the East and prevent the kind of invasion that we later saw play out across Ukraine. So he had a lot to juggle while he was focused on trying to negotiate with Putin and settle their relations and bring peace, all the American media, and all the international media wanted to talk about was Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden and all this stuff. So it was a massive distraction. One quote that stands out from that interview was he said, "I don't trust anyone at all." And essentially the lesson to him was: Alliances are flimsy. Everyone just has their national interests, their personal interests. And he felt a deep disillusionment in his belief that he could rely on certain allies, Europeans, Americans. He said everybody just has their interests, and I don't trust anyone at all.

Sam Briger and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the web.

Correction Jan. 24, 2024

A previous version of this story misspelled the capital of Ukraine as Kiev. It it Kyiv.

Russia-Ukraine War Zelensky Tells Congress ‘You Can Speed Up Our Victory’

Making his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded, Zelensky urged a joint session of Congress to continue support for the defense of his country. Some Republicans skipped his speech.

• Share full article
• "You can speed up our victory," President Volodymyr Zelensky told Congress.
• "Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender," Mr. Zelensky told Congress.
• "This struggle will define in what world our children and grandchildren will live," Mr. Zelensky said.
• Mr. Zelensky brought to Congress a Ukrainian flag from the battlefield. Kenny Holston/The New York Times
• Mr. Zelensky was given an American flag that flew over the Capitol. Kenny Holston/The New York Times
• President Biden announced more aid for Ukraine.
• "Russia needs to be held accountable," Mr. Zelensky said.
• "Russia is using winter as a weapon," Mr. Biden said.
• Both Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Biden indicated the war won't end soon. Tom Brenner for The New York Times
• Mr. Zelensky was greeted with a red carpet at the White House. The New York Times
• Mr. Zelensky wore military garb to the White House. Tom Brenner for The New York Times
• The Ukrainian people "inspire the world," Mr. Biden said. The New York Times
• The two leaders met in the Oval Office. Tom Brenner for The New York Times
• Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Biden for his support. The New York Times

Follow live news updates of the Russia-Ukraine war .

Ben Shpigel and Anushka Patil

Here are the latest developments.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine capped his visit to Washington by asking Congress to approve nearly $50 billion in additional aid to his country. Swift passage would not only stop Russian influence in the region, but preserve democracy as a whole, he said.

Addressing a joint session of Congress, Mr. Zelensky spoke for roughly 25 minutes, mixing doses of humor with pleas for the future safety and stability of Ukraine. He delivered the speech in English, giving it more impact than if it had been translated from Ukrainian.

“Your money is not charity,” Mr. Zelensky said. “It’s an investment.”

After his speech, which was warmly received by members on both sides of the aisle, Mr. Zelensky presented Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, with a Ukrainian flag that soldiers had signed. Ms. Pelosi gave Mr. Zelensky an American flag that had flown over the Capitol earlier in the day.

Here is what you need to know:

After a two-hour meeting at the White House, President Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with Mr. Zelensky that the United States would continue to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

Mr. Zelensky, asked what he would consider a fair way to end the war, said that he would not compromise the sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity of his country. He said Ukraine shared values with the United States and was fighting “for our common victory against this tyranny.”

“We will win and I really want to win together,” he said.

Mr. Biden said Mr. Zelensky’s visit underscored “the need to stand together through 2023,” suggesting the United States doesn’t believe the war will end anytime soon. “The American people have been with you every step of the way, and we will stay with you,” Mr. Biden said.

Earlier in the day, the secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, said that the United States was sending Ukraine an additional $1.8 billion in military aid, including a Patriot missile battery , one of its most advanced air defense systems.

Emily Cochrane

A dispute over immigration policy delays a bid to pass Ukraine aid in the Senate.

Hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine pressed U.S. lawmakers for more aid in his country’s war with Russia on Wednesday evening, the legislation carrying nearly $50 billion in such assistance ground to a halt in the Senate.

Senators left the Capitol on Wednesday night without holding a vote on a broad government funding package containing the Ukraine aid along with a host of other initiatives. An impasse over immigration policy was quickly consuming valuable time if lawmakers are to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week.

Although the Ukraine aid and the broader package have widespread support in the Senate, to beat the shutdown deadline lawmakers had sought to use a fast-track process that requires the consent of all 100 senators. But before agreeing to an expedited process, several senators demanded the opportunity to vote on a series of amendments in a bid to secure last-minute changes or force politically freighted votes.

The largest sticking point came when Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, demanded a vote on an amendment that would essentially tie some funds for the Department of Homeland Security to the continuation of pandemic-era border restrictions that a majority of Democrats oppose.

But enough Senate Democrats support maintaining the Trump-era policy, which is known as Title 42 and allows the government to expel migrants who cross the southwestern border, that senators and aides believe the amendment would pass. A Senate Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the amendment as a poison pill that would prevent its passage in the House as progressive Democrats revolted against its inclusion.

The Biden administration planned to end Title 42 this week after a federal judge ordered that the policy be halted, but the Supreme Court has issued a brief stay keeping the measure in place while it considers the matter. Both the Biden administration and the measure’s opponents fear that its repeal could lead to a surge of migrants at the border.

As talks continued into the night, some Republicans appeared to dig in over their desire for a vote on the amendment.

“I support the omnibus bill — even though the process is broken and it is bigger than it should be — because it meets our national security needs,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on Twitter . “However, if the omnibus — which dramatically increases military spending and funds the government — fails because Democrats care more about letting Title 42 lapse than funding the federal government, so be it.”

While talks continued in an effort to break the logjam, senators began leaving the Capitol for the evening around 9 p.m. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, previously said that he would not support a full-year funding package and would vote for only a stopgap bill should the Senate fail to act by Thursday. (It was unclear whether that threat would hold, given that a stopgap bill would not contain the military increases and Ukraine aid he has championed. Asked Wednesday evening, he simply reminded reporters that the deadline he had chosen, Dec. 22, was the next day.)

There is still time for lawmakers to negotiate an agreement to quickly pass the legislation, but senators had hoped to approve it Wednesday as Mr. Zelensky thanked Congress for previous rounds of aid and stressed the importance of continuing assistance to his country in an unusual speech before a joint meeting on Congress.

“He made it clear that without this aid package, the Ukrainians will be in real trouble and could even lose the war,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said of Mr. Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader met privately with congressional leaders. “So that makes the urgency of us getting this legislation done all the more important, and getting it done quickly without flaw.”

Just before midnight, he expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached.

Marc Santora and Anton Troianovski

Why the battle for Bakhmut is so important.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told Congress that the fight now raging for Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, could “change the trajectory of our war for independence and for freedom.”

That battle has turned into one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war, and as losses for both sides have mounted, Ukraine’s hold on the ravaged city has taken on a symbolism that outstrips its military significance. There are bumper stickers, artwork and T-shirts in shops across Ukraine with the slogan: “Bakhmut Holds.”

But in Washington on Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky emphasized that holding was not enough. “To ensure Bakhmut is not just a stronghold that holds back the Russian army, but for the Russian army to completely pull out, more cannons and shells are needed,” he said.

Before his trip to Washington to ask for that increased support, Mr. Zelensky made an unannounced visit on Tuesday to Bakhmut to rally the soldiers there. It was perhaps his most daring visit to the front lines since Russia invaded Ukraine, and a demonstration of defiance in the face of Moscow’s ceaseless assault against the ravaged eastern city.

Despite months of Russian bombardments and waves of assault by formations from the Wagner Group , an infamous paramilitary organization that has helped lead the Kremlin’s war effort in parts of Ukraine, the city has remained in Ukrainian control.

The Ukrainian forces holding Bakhmut are from a mix of units, including the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade, that have been worn down by the nonstop Russian assaults . Other units relocated from southern Ukraine have arrived in recent weeks to bolster the defense of the city.

While Russian forces are digging in and establishing more fortified defensive positions across much of the 600-mile front, they have continued to assault Bakhmut from multiple directions.

Mr. Zelensky’s visit to Bakhmut came as Ukrainian troops say they have pushed Russians out of some positions on the edge of the city, although the situation there is far from stable.

“Last year, 70,000 people lived here in Bakhmut, in this city, and now only a few civilians stay,” Mr. Zelensky told Congress. “Every inch of that land is soaked in blood, roaring guns sound every hour.”

He told Congress that the troops he met with in Bakhmut had given him a Ukrainian battle flag and asked that he bring it to Washington.

“Let this flag stay with you, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “This flag is a symbol of our victory in this war. We stand, we fight and we will win because we are united — Ukraine, America and the entire free world.”

“This is so important,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, speaking to reporters on the Hill. “The most important thing going on in the world is to beat the Russians in Ukraine. Fortunately they have a leader that everyone can look up to and admire. And also it’s nice to have something here at the end of the year that we all actually agree on.”

While the speech was powerful, it doesn’t appear to have moved some of those lawmakers who are adamantly opposed to the aid. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, a Republican, told us she still believes the American people should not be paying for the war effort.

Schumer says he asked Zelensky privately earlier Wednesday what it would mean if Congress failed to pass the aid. “He says it would mean we’d lose the war,” Schumer recounted.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, says “I hope those who were doubting that we should aid Ukraine heard his speech loud and clear.”

Michael Crowley

Zelensky’s ability to speak fluent English is a huge asset for his nation. A speech like that, passed through a translator, simply can’t carry the same emotional punch.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

That historic image — of Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoisting a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers in the midst of war — had to be exactly what Mr. Zelensky envisioned when he decided to travel to Washington. Whether it will be enough to encourage a divided Congress to approve longterm aid for Ukraine is unclear.

Pelosi has now given Zelensky an American flag that flew over the Capitol earlier today.

Zelensky closes the speech by saying, “Happy victorious New Year,” drawing loud cheers.

Quite an image there, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris hold up a Ukrainian flag Zelensky brought from the battlefield.

Julian E. Barnes

The decisions of Congress, Zelensky said, can save Ukraine. “Let these decisions be taken,” he says, pivoting from a message of thanks to a plea to approve the new round of nearly $50 billion for Ukraine.

Zelensky just mentioned the prospect of Russia attacking Ukrainians with drones provided by Iran. The Biden administration has in recent days increasingly criticized Iran for aiding Russia’s invasion.

It’s amazing to see Zelensky speaking to a U.S. Congress that impeached a president over a 2019 conversation with him.

Annie Karni

I just noticed that Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, is sitting with Democrats, not Republicans. She’s sitting next to Representative Elaine Luria, Democrat of Virginia, a fellow member of the Jan. 6 committee.

The spending package does include money for inspectors general to examine how the money is being spent, as well as requirements for reports on the money and its impact. But there is some concern about fatigue over sending so much money, and lawmakers have heard from some constituents who question why that money isn't being spent in the United States.

Zelensky says that Ukraine handles U.S. aid “in the most responsible way,” an apparent nod to growing concerns about the potential for theft in a country with a long history of endemic corruption.

Zelensky’s push for the next package of aid is a key element of his speech and one of the most important reasons he is in Washington today. “You can speed up our victory,” he says, a potentially strong argument for Republicans undecided about the spending bill before Congress.

Zelensky warns that if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine, it is bound to come soon for other U.S. allies in Europe. Many U.S. officials and Russia analysts hold this conviction.

“Your money is not charity,” Zelensky says. “It’s an investment.”

Just as the American Army forces fought in the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944, holding back Hitler's forces, Ukraine, Zelensky said, is doing the same in Christmas 2022, holding back Putin’s forces. History hangs heavily over Ukraine, and both Kyiv and Russia have evoked the mantle of the allied fight in World War II. Putin’s version of history is routinely rejected as false. Judging from the applause, Zelensky’s will be embraced by Congress.

“We have artillery, yes, thank you. Is it enough? Not really,” Zelensky says as some laugh in the chamber. It’s another moment of candor from Zelensky, who is making clear that he will continue to expect more military resources from the United States as Ukraine prepares for a prolonged fight. Biden has thus far not approved of sending longer-ranged weapon systems to Ukraine.

Some Republicans are skipping Zelensky’s address.

When President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressed a joint session of Congress this evening, he spoke to a crowd that included some Republicans who have been vocally opposed to sending more aid to his country.

Others said they were skipping the historic event altogether.

Representative Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina and a member of the far right Freedom Caucus, told Politico he was not planning to attend the speech because Mr. Zelensky could not say anything that would change his views on providing more funding for Ukraine. Mr. Norman was one of 57 House Republicans who voted against a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine in May and he is opposing an omnibus bill that includes more than $44 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, who has been vocally opposed to sending more aid to Ukraine, also did not attend the speech. And Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, and Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, who have questioned the need for more aid, did not appear to be in attendance.

Representative Mike Garcia, Republican of California, tweeted Wednesday ahead of Mr. Zelensky’s visit that “more Americans have died from fentanyl coming thru our southern border than Ukrainians at the hands of Russians this year. Imagine a nation where POTUS protects his own.”

Despite that tweet, a spokesman for the congressman said he planned to attend.

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, and Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, both vocal opponents of sending more aid to Ukraine, were seated together in the House chamber ahead of Mr. Zelensky’s speech. Also in attendance were Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the top House Republican, and Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, who said last spring he could not support more money going to Ukraine when the United States endured a baby formula shortage.

Mr. McCarthy voted for the aid package in May but has since signaled that a Republican-controlled House of Representatives would make it more difficult for President Biden to continue sending aid abroad. Mr. McCarthy is also trying to secure the votes he needs to become House speaker, which includes support from the party’s more extreme members who have adopted former President Donald J. Trump’s “America First” position.

Representative Andrew Clyde, Republican of Georgia, who voted against the $40 billion aid package in May, attended the speech but notably sat through all of the standing ovations for Mr. Zelensky.

Biden officials are talking to Congress about declaring Russia an ‘aggressor state.’

The Biden administration is working with Congress to officially declare Russia an “aggressor state,” a move that would avert a more serious drive to label Moscow a “state sponsor of terrorism,” which the administration opposes.

Ukraine’s leaders and senior members of the U.S. Congress have for months called for Russia to be added to the official State Department list of nations designated as “state sponsors of terrorism,” in what they call a fitting response to Moscow’s brutal campaign against Ukraine.

But the Biden administration opposes the move. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in September that such an action “could have unintended consequences to Ukraine and the world” and that the president did not support it.

On Wednesday, a State Department spokesman said that Biden officials were working with Congress to craft legislation naming Russia as an “aggressor state,” a potential middle-ground action with less draconian impact that could prevent a political showdown between the White House and Congress. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss pending legislation.

A Tuesday report in The Hill newspaper said that some officials hoped to have the legislation ready ahead of Wednesday’s speech by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyto a joint session of Congress. Mr. Zelensky has asked the more severe terrorism designation be applied to Russia.

The U.S. list of terrorism sponsors includes only three countries: North Korea, Iran and Cuba. The designation automatically triggers harsh sanctions, which in some cases go beyond those the U.S. has imposed on Russia, including ones that target third countries that deal with the designated state.

U.S. officials also appear reluctant to conflate military operations, however brutal, with a more traditional notion of nonstate terrorism. Iran, Cuba and North Korea are all accused of aiding or harboring terrorists not formally affiliated with their governments.

Biden officials have said the terrorism designation could, for instance, jeopardize the Western delivery of humanitarian assistance to some areas of Ukraine, and complicate an agreement with Russia that allows food shipments from Ukrainian ports.

Andrew E. Kramer

Zelensky’s message: Ukraine is fighting for good over evil.

KYIV, Ukraine — Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky was often brushed off as a former comedian who stumbled into the job of leading a nation with the seemingly naïve promise of cleaning up Ukraine’s endemic corruption.

After a quick trip Tuesday to the bloodiest theater in the war, he arrived in Washington on Wednesday a national hero and global superstar, having forged a leadership style blending personal daring with deft messaging to rally his people at home and his allies abroad.

That aura has served him and his country well to this point. But Mr. Zelensky arrives in Washington at a pivotal time for Ukraine, when his troops’ lightning counteroffensives from this fall are slowing down. He will be pleading for the more powerful weapons he believes Ukraine needs, but he will have to walk a fine line.

By taking a daring trip abroad during wartime, he is seeking to project strength and show confidence that Ukraine will ultimately prevail. But to make the case for continued financial and military support, he needs to draw attention to the dire threat Ukraine still faces without seeming weak.

“President Zelensky would like to present this trip as serious progress in the war,” Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Parliament in the opposition European Solidarity Party, said in an interview. “It’s a pretty clear message that the alliance of the United States and Ukraine is maintained and is quite strong.”

In Ukraine, the visit was also seen as tied to the American political calendar, coming as control of the House passes to the Republican Party, some of whose members have voiced skepticism of continuing to funnel assistance to Ukraine.

Another of Mr. Zelensky’s principal aims, analysts say, is to maintain unified American support for the war, doing whatever he can to avoid having it devolve into a partisan issue.

“Zelensky should not maneuver between the Democrats and Republicans,” Yevhen Mahda, a political commentator in Kyiv, said in an interview. “He should suggest a new paradigm — the paradigm that Ukraine today is at the epicenter of the battle between good and evil.

“And by supporting Ukraine, the United States supports good,” Mr. Mahda added. “This is the necessary message.”

Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian, has always had a keen sense of image and storytelling in politics, which is evident in his following up a frontline visit to the eastern city of Bakhmut — with booming artillery as a backdrop — with his address to Congress.

“It’s an honor for me to be here today,” Mr. Zelensky had told the soldiers in Bakhmut, where Russia has been pressing a fierce offensive for months. To those with children, he said, “I wish that your sun, that is your children, will shine for you, for them to motivate you to survive, for sure, and defend your families, our families, all of our state and the future of our children.”

At a news conference on Wednesday with President Biden in Washington, where he delivered a personal plea for more economic and military support, he had a similar message when asked what he would want the world to know: “I wish you peace,” he said, switching from Ukrainian to English. “And you understand it only when the war is in your country.” He added: “I wish you to see your children when they will go to universities, and to see their children.”

Analysts say that Mr. Zelensky is also keenly aware that he needs to bolster the morale of his people, millions of whom are living without electricity, water or heating as winter sets in.

For the most part, however, Mr. Zelensky faced no political pressure at home and was free to tailor the trip to the imperative of filling out his military’s arsenal for the war.

The United States is by far the largest foreign supplier of weapons to the Ukrainian Army. But the Biden administration has carefully calibrated its assistance to Ukraine, holding back longer-range and more powerful weapons for fear of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory that could drag NATO into the war.

Two successful Ukrainian counteroffensives in the northeast and in the south have run their course, and the Russian and Ukrainian armies are digging in along a new, 600-mile front line. To maintain that progress, Ukrainian officials and analysts say, its military needs more advanced weapons systems.

Mr. Zelensky will have the opportunity to address the concerns of U.S. lawmakers about the oversight of military and financial aid to Ukraine, and he could be pushed on domestic matters like press freedom, fighting corruption and ensuring checks and balances between the courts and executive branch.

But Mr. Zelensky’s major objective is to portray the war in stark terms of good versus evil that he hopes will transcend American politics and will give “a sense of the rightness of his cause and the sense of what his people and his soldiers feel,” said Yuri Makarov, the editor in chief of the Ukrainian national broadcasting company.

Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv.

Vanessa Friedman

Zelensky flies the flag of Ukraine’s enduring defiance with a crew neck and cargo pants.

Yes, this is his first foreign trip since the Russian invasion began. And yes, Ukraine has defied all odds in holding out for 10 months against an aggressor that expected to claim his country’s capital within days.

But the watching world should be on notice: The war is far from over.

Such was the message from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine when he stepped onto the lawn of the White House to be greeted by President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, and then later, at a joint news conference with Mr. Biden.

Or rather, such was the message conveyed by the olive green sweatshirt (complete with Ukrainian trident at the throat), cargo pants and hard boots that Mr. Zelensky was wearing, before he had even said a word.

It is impossible to believe that Mr. Zelensky, a president familiar with optics from his years as a performer, chose by happenstance to appear in the militaristic garb that he has made his wartime uniform, rather than adopt the dark suit and tie normal to White House visits (de rigueur for most senators and representatives, and for visiting dignitaries and cabinet members alike).

By remaining in the character he has played since the war began, Mr. Zelensky offered an immediate visual reminder of his purpose to all those watching. Including his people, his fighters, his allies — and, not least, his foe in the Kremlin.

Whatever he and Mr. Biden say to each other behind closed doors, Mr. Zelensky’s in-the-trenches regalia was impossible to ignore — as it has been since he first appeared in an olive green T-shirt in a Kyiv bunker after Russia invaded in February. On Wednesday, the impact was heightened by the contrast with Mr. Biden’s businesslike navy suit, worn with a navy and yellow striped tie in a nod to the national colors of Ukraine, and the sky blue coat of Dr. Biden.

Had Mr. Zelensky resorted to the mufti of the capital, he would have blended in with his surroundings, suggesting, perhaps, that a more familiar or reassuring stage of the conflict had begun. That he did not was as much a strategic choice as any deployment, this one targeted to an image-consuming age.

Mr. Zelensky is a wartime leader, and he is making sure that all anyone has to do is look at him to get the point.

The latest U.S. package of weapons for Kyiv will include Patriot missiles.

WASHINGTON — The United States will provide Ukraine with its best air defense system for guarding against enemy warplanes, drones and cruise missiles as part of a new package of military aid to Kyiv valued at up to $1.85 billion, according to a statement the State Department emailed to reporters on Wednesday.

Most of the aid, the most expensive package for Ukraine since late August, will come from existing Pentagon stockpiles, which for the first time will include a Patriot air defense battery — a collection of missile launchers, radars and support vehicles.

The version of Patriot in service with the U.S. military can fire three different kinds of interceptor missiles, including one capable of engaging incoming ballistic missiles, like the ones that Russia are believed to be pursuing from Iran .

In a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon, a senior defense official declined to say how many Patriot missiles would be sent, or where Ukrainian soldiers would be trained to use them, saying only that such training would begin soon and last several months.

Other military officials have said the Ukrainian troops would be trained at a base in Germany.

The Patriot battery is just one item in a $1 billion list of goods to be taken from existing Defense Department inventories, the 28th such withdrawal for Kyiv since August 2021.

An unspecified number of GMLRS guided rockets — which can hit targets 50 miles away with 200 pounds of explosives — will be sent, the 13th such shipment that has been publicly announced since June 1. The aid also includes 500 more precision-guided 155-millimeter shells, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles , mortar weapons and ammunition, armored vehicles and other weapons and equipment.

The announcement also noted that “precision aerial munitions” would be provided from U.S. stocks, but it did not specify the type or quantity.

In addition to the weapons that will be shipped from existing inventories, the State Department said it would send $850 million to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows Kyiv to purchase goods directly from private industry with funds provided by the United States.

Those funds in Wednesday’s announcement will buy ammunition for Soviet-era weapons that Ukraine possessed before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, including 65,000 artillery shells, 50,000 Grad artillery rockets and 100,000 rounds of 125-millimeter tank ammunition.

The package also includes:

Satellite communication terminals and services

37 Cougar mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, or MRAPs

Over 2,700 grenade launchers and small arms

Demolition munitions and equipment

Night vision devices and optics

Tactical secure communications systems

Julian E. Barnes ,  Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt

With Russia bolstering defenses and adding soldiers, U.S. officials see a possible stalemate ahead.

WASHINGTON — As the war in Ukraine soon enters its second year, Ukrainian troops will find it much more challenging to reclaim territory from Russian forces who are focused on defending their remaining land gains rather than making a deeper push into the country, American officials say .

Over the course of the first 10 months of the war, the Ukrainian military has — with significant American support — outmaneuvered an incompetent Russian military, fought it to a standstill and then retaken hundreds of square miles and the only regional capital that Russia had captured.

Despite relentless Russian attacks on civilian power supplies, Ukraine has still kept up the momentum on the front lines since September. But the tide of the war is likely to change in the coming months, as Russia improves its defenses and pushes more soldiers to the front lines, making it more difficult for Ukraine to retake the huge swaths of territory it lost this year.

All of these factors make the most likely scenario going into the second year of the war a stalemate in which neither army can take much land despite intense fighting, according to U.S. government assessments.

“I do think that it is far easier for Ukraine to defend territory than to go on the offensive to recapture territory,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former senior Pentagon official who is now executive director of the McCain Institute. “We need to be providing Ukrainians the necessary equipment and training to do that.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is expected to ask for just that when he meets President Biden and addresses Congress on Wednesday evening, his first visit outside the country since the start of the war.

Michael D. Shear and Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Zelensky arrives at the White House to meet with Biden.

WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrived at the White House Wednesday for a show of solidarity with President Biden and a plea for continued support from his American allies as his country digs in for a long, cold winter of war.

Seated in front of a roaring fire in the Oval Office and speaking in halting English, Mr. Zelensky offered “all my appreciations, from my heart, from the heart of all Ukrainians” for American support as his forces battle Russian invaders.

Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky that his people “inspire the world” and he blamed Russian President Vladimir V. Putin for trying to “use winter as a weapon” by attacking civilian targets that provide electricity and heat to millions of people. Mr. Biden pledged continuing support for “the great people of Ukraine.”

Mr. Zelensky presented Mr. Biden with a cross for military merit award that he was given by a soldier on the front lines in Ukraine. The soldier, a captain, said Mr. Zelensky should give it to the “very brave president” who had saved many lives in his country.

“Undeserved, but much appreciated,” Mr. Biden replied.

Just moments before, Mr. Biden welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart in a ceremony on the South Lawn for what officials said would be two hours of closed-door meetings in which the leaders will reaffirm their determination to defend Ukraine against what they have called an illegal invasion by Russian forces that began in February.

Mr. Zelensky’s visit to the capital of his most powerful benefactor — kept secret until the eve of his arrival for security reasons — is a dramatic show of confidence by Ukraine’s leader, who had not left his country since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia began his assault 300 days ago.

But it comes at a moment that hope for peace seems distant, as both sides gird for months of continued fighting. In Russia, officials warned that deliveries of new U.S. weapons will lead “to an aggravation of the conflict” and Mr. Putin vowed that his government will provide “everything that the army asks for — everything” in its search for conquest.

Wednesday’s one-day trip to Washington is designed as a thank you, a victory lap, and a sales pitch all at once. As he has done since the beginning, Mr. Zelensky intends to be blunt with Mr. Biden and, later, with members of Congress during a speech on Capitol Hill. He is expected to say that his country cannot survive without billions of dollars worth of sophisticated American war equipment.

“President Zelensky’s visit here is at least partially, maybe primarily, designed to bolster that support and rejuvenate the enthusiasm for Ukraine’s success,” said William B. Taylor, Jr., who served as ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009. “That is all going to be necessary for the Ukrainians to be able to pre-empt a Russian offensive.”

Mr. Zelensky is certain to get some, but not all, of what he wants. Congress is just days away from approval of almost $50 billion in additional security and economic assistance for Ukraine. The State Department has announced the delivery of a Patriot missile battery to help Ukraine defend against attacks from the sky, but the administration is still refusing longer range weapons that could strike deep into Russia and potentially draw the United States into direct conflict with Mr. Putin and his military.

For Mr. Biden, the highly-orchestrated visit is an opportunity to remind Americans of why he has committed the United States’ treasury — though not its soldiers — to defending the borders of a country a continent away. It is, he will say, the only way to ensure the rights of each country to maintain its sovereignty in the face of blatant violations of international law.

That decision has not come without sacrifices and political cost for Mr. Biden, who rightly predicted before the war started that Americans would suffer economic consequences as the impacts of the first war in Europe in decades rippled across the world. Gas and food prices spiked, helping to send inflation soaring in the United States and elsewhere.

Now, after rallying dozens of nations to oppose Russia’s invasion, Mr. Biden finds himself needing to hold that coalition together for longer than anyone inside the White House imagined at the start of the war. And he faces a concerted effort by Mr. Putin to break the alliance by restricting energy resources and attacking civilian areas in Ukraine.

“The most important part of this visit might be to combat Putin’s belief that time is on his side in the war,” said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Reporting was contributed by Emily Cochrane in Washington, Anton Troianovski in Berlin and Andrew E. Kramer in Kyiv.

Michael Crowley and Emily Cochrane

The Senate confirms Biden’s pick for a tough role: ambassador to Russia.

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Biden’s nominee for ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, by a 93-2 vote.

Ms. Tracy, a career diplomat who speaks Russian, has served as the U.S. ambassador to Armenia for nearly four years. She succeeds John J. Sullivan, who departed Moscow in September to retire from public service . She will arrive in Moscow with U.S.-Russia relations in a toxic state, as the Biden administration sends tens of billions of dollars to defend Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

But a modicum of diplomacy is carrying on between Washington and Moscow, with each side maintaining functioning embassies, with bare-bones staff, in the other’s capital. U.S. officials say that maintaining some ties is vital to prevent dangerous misunderstandings and protecting vital interests.

Ms. Tracy served as deputy chief of mission, or the second-ranking official, at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 2014 to 2017.

She has also been senior adviser for Russia affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and has worked at U.S. diplomatic outposts in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

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Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader Hardcover – August 4, 2022

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• Print length 256 pages
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• Publication date August 4, 2022
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canbury Press (August 4, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1912454777
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1912454778
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• #6,981 in WWII Biographies
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NATO Leaders Strategize Ahead of Potential Trump Reelection

Posted: April 5, 2024 | Last updated: April 5, 2024

Trump Is Making His Way Into White House For A Second Term

Currently, Trump has been gaining momentum in the political field. Donald Trump being his party’s nominee is quietly making his way towards the November election.

Anyone can be president of the United States but NATO might be in trouble if Trump ends up being president. Trump has this persistent hate for NATO’s long-term alliance especially when it comes to the European members, and he’s not showing any sign of letting them be. 

Financial Aid For Ukraine

In NATO’s approach to help defend its member state Ukraine from the aftermath of the war, the NATO officials have decided to come together and brainstorm on how they could best help the people of Ukraine. 

From a publication from the Financial Times on April 2 this meeting was initiated by Jens Stoltenberg who is the outgoing secretary general of NATO. During this meeting, they plan on discussing how to generate $100 billion in funds for the injured country. 

Trump's Reelection Might Render It Unsuccessful

Politico also joined The Financial Times and gave a further report on the meeting. They reported that all the 32 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are bothered about Trump’s reelection.

And because of this they are considering if they need to assume joint responsibility for the U.S.-led military support group, they believe that if Trump is re-elected there’s a high probability of him halting the project completely. 

The Need To Have A New Plan

Jens Stoltenberg is concerned about this whole issue and he’s actively trying to make sure that there’s a new plan on the ground before NATO’s July summit happening in Washington. Stoltenberg believes this needs to be addressed urgently.

The Financial Times also mentioned that Stoltenberg’s tenure would be coming to an end in September. This should have happened earlier but the Secretary General of NATO got his term extended because of several geopolitical challenges. 

The New Chief Might Have To Deal With Trump

Members of NATO believe that the next NATO chief will be the present Dutch Prime Minister the person of Mark Rutte. If he eventually becomes NATO chief then, he’d have no choice but to go heads on with a re-elected Donald Trump.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s opinion about NATO hasn’t changed. He has been pretty unwelcoming toward the alliance and its members. What makes it worse is that Trump doesn’t share the same vision with NATO on helping Ukraine attain victory. 

Joe Biden’s Re-election Will Face Extreme Opposition

Apart from worrying about Trump getting re-elected, NATO members are also worried about Joe Biden being re-elected. Biden getting re-elected only means a greater and more extreme opposition from the part of the Congress who supports Trump. 

One thing is clear, the present House of republicans has done everything in its power to make sure that their presence is massively felt. This was demonstrated when they opposed the $60 billion funding package meant for Ukraine. 

A More Pressing Issue

Although plans to deal with Trump's reelection have been in place, it may seem as though NATO has more pressing issues it needs to attend to. 

During an interview with Newsweek, one of the diplomatic officials from Europe mentioned that more than the re-election of Trump, NATO’s real issue was the constant brutality from Russia towards Ukraine. And to him, this was the actual “alarm bell” for the organization. 

Pending Issues Before Trump's Declarations

The diplomatic official from Europe told Newsweek that the brutality toward Ukraine had always been a problem way before the announcement of Trump's second term came out.

He also pointed out that plans were already existing before Trump's reelection, the re-election is only helping to speed up the process. For all that matters, this might be hinting at Europe to focus on its defense mechanisms. 

The Fear Of A Second Term Trump

Even though these issues had been pending before news of Donald Trump's intentions to run for a second term, his re-election will have so much impact on a European War. 

If Trump gets the power to oversee a true-life European war he’d be unstoppable. Remember that Trump's words have so much weight, and his re-election can be likened to an actual war. 

Trump's Reelection Is A Case Of Concern To Ukraine

It’s not only NATO that is concerned about the re-election of Donald Trump, this is an actual cause of concern for even Ukraine.

Looking back to when Trump suggested that Kyiv should hurriedly sign a peace agreement with Moscow, an agreement that could cause harm to the country’s integrity and sovereignty. 

Trump Is A Supporter Of Vladimir Putin

Supporting Putin is one of the major issues individuals have with Donald Trump. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky reminiscing about how Putin destroyed all the values they spent their life defending.

Selensky couldn’t hide his disbelief while talking to CNN, he mentioned how he’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Donald Trump is supporting Vladimir Putin. 

A Long-Term Plan For Ukraine

This isn’t even all about Trump or Biden, the more pressing issue now is the fact that Ukraine needs an active working and long-term solution.

One of the Ukrainian parliament members had something to say. He expressed how unsure he was about the effect of Trump's reelection in November. Because to him, the whole election is still pretty much unpredictable 

A Logical Solution!

Merezhko talked about how it would be a great idea to integrate the Ramstein format into the NATO framework. He also believes that this will give Ukraine a sense of stability when it comes to getting military aid.

To him, Ukraine needs to diversify its sources of military assistance. A collective effort from NATO and member states is the best way to protect the country and its citizens.

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