By EFE
Sep 29, 2024, 9:04 PM EDT
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United States concluded, his government will continue to push for new talks with its key ally amid lingering doubts about its long-term commitment to Ukraine’s victory.
A series of attacks that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made on Zelensky before their meeting on Friday, as well as his vague statements about the desired end to the war, have deepened concerns in Ukraine about his lack of commitment to defending the invaded nation.
However, with the United States providing almost half of the total military aid, kyiv is set to continue talking to both presidential candidates – Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris – while trying to convince the current administration that Ukraine needs more help to stop Russia.
A glass half full
“The entire team has done an incredible job. The most important thing now is to maintain support and continue arguing that Ukraine’s victory is based on its strong position, both on the battlefield and on the diplomatic level,” Andri Yermak, head of the presidential office and Zelensky’s closest collaborator.
According to Zelensky himself, Ukraine will prepare for a meeting with US President Joe Biden and other allies in Germany in October, where each part of the plan will be further discussed and “given more substance.”
“Everything that is important for Ukraine is on the table with partners, everything is being considered: long-range strikes, a defense aid package, sanctions against Russia, measures related to Russian assets,” Zelensky stressed.
Meanwhile, a commitment of some $8 billion for increased military support, announced by the current US president, will help Ukraine prevent rapid Russian advances on the front lines before the end of the year, military analysts say.
Working with Trump
“There is and will be bipartisan support for Ukraine, this is important,” Yermak stressed.
“Everything Trump says about Ukraine should be considered only in the context of his presidential campaign and the effort to maximize the number of votes he obtains,” the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, Oleksandr Merezhko, told EFE.
Merezhko believes that Trump’s Ukraine policy will only become clearer when, if he becomes president, he chooses those responsible for foreign affairs.
Until then, Ukraine will continue its efforts to find common ground with Trump and other Republicans.
There is no great progress with the Democrats
Zelensky’s visit was hindered by the attempts of the two main political forces in the United States to instrumentalize the war in their electoral campaigns, writes Alyona Hetmanchuk, of the Nova Evropa think tank, for the media outlet Ukrainian Pravda.
In his opinion, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris attempted to reinforce the perception that only his presidency can ensure continued support for Ukraine.
However, Hetmanchuk and other analysts argue that despite Harris’s public statements sharing Zelensky’s vision for ending the war, the Democratic Party is not really giving Ukraine what it needs to defeat Russia militarily.
“At the moment there are no clear signs that the current administration has enthusiastically welcomed the Ukrainian president’s plan and is willing to start implementing it point by point,” he writes.
Although the United States considers kyiv’s ability to keep fighting for a third year in a row a victory, many in Ukraine stress that the war could end much sooner and many lives could be saved if the United States dramatically increased its military support, rather than carefully rationing it and avoid “escalation” at any cost.
It is sad that many Democrats are really convinced that they are doing the best they can for Ukraine and that all Kamala Harris has to do if she is elected is to continue that path, Hetmanchuk emphasizes.
Right now, the United States is “carefully studying” Zelensky’s victory plan to see if there is anything more it can do to help the invaded nation “achieve success,” the head of the US State Department said on Saturday. Antony Blinken.
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