His schedule includes a meeting with President Joe Biden, an address to a joint meeting of both houses of Congress and, he hopes, an opportunity to shore up support from America in an increasingly bitter winter war
, Ukraine’s president, did not leave his country. Instead foreign dignitaries came to him. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany, as well as America’s secretaries of state and defence, all made the pilgrimage to the presidential office in Kyiv, where Mr Zelensky had given up his suit and tie for a wardrobe of drab hoodies and, with reluctance, flak jackets. Not until December 21st did Mr Zelensky cross his country’s borders, to travel to the capital of his most important ally.
But the timing of Mr Zelensky’s visit may have more to do with the political transition under way after America’s latest legislative election. The House of Representatives will shift from Democratic to Republican control in January. Aid to Ukraine enjoys support from nearly all Democrats and most Republicans, but theincludes a vocal minority of far-right isolationists.
Mr Biden will also announce a new package of American military aid. It is expected to include kits for turning Ukraine’s unguided bombs into precision-guided ones . More important, America will for the first time send Ukraine its top-of-the-line Patriot air-defence system, a capability the country has begged for.
Ukraine’s armed forces still have more items on their wish list. Mr Zelensky’s generals say that Russia’s army has adapted to their use of American HIMARS rocket-launching systems by keeping their logistical and ammunition storage points farther back behind the front lines. To hit them, Ukraine would need longer-range rockets for its.
Ukraine has also insistently requested Western tanks to help it reconquer the rest of the territory currently occupied by Russian forces. That request, too, has gone unmet. In
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