Volodimir Zelensky and Joe Biden met this Tuesday in a meeting marked not so much by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but by the blocking of military aid to that country by the US Republican opposition.
With less than a hundred hours until the US Congress suspends its sessions for Christmas, US weapons deliveries to kyiv are about to end right in the middle of winter and while Russia continues its offensive in Eastern Ukraine.
For the moment, the only thing Washington can do is deliver more intelligence to kyiv and, in the longer term, strengthen industrial cooperation between both countries so that Ukraine has more autonomy to manufacture its own weapons. For this reason, Zelensky met with Biden accompanied, among others, by his Minister of Strategic Industries, Alexander Kamyshin. On the American side, in addition to Biden, the two architects of US foreign and security policy participated, the Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, and the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan.
But, in the short term, what counts are the weapons. And it seems impossible that they will arrive before, hopefully, mid-January. By then, it may be too late for Ukraine to maintain the current front lines. Therefore, Zelensky issued a warning: if Ukraine is defeated in a conventional war by Russia, it will resort to guerrilla warfare.
It is a promise and a warning, because the US knows that guerrillas are, by definition, more difficult to control than conventional armies subject to the authority of a government. Washington is also aware that there are NATO allies — such as Poland and the Baltic countries — who would most likely support a partisan movement in Ukraine, regardless of what the US says. A guerrilla war would also increase the possibility of NATO becoming involved in the conflict.
That was one of Zelensky’s messages in his meetings with the president of the House of Representatives, the ‘Trumpist’ Mike Johnson, who is one of the main people responsible for the paralysis of aid, and with several senators. The Ukrainian president also addressed the Senate, where Republicans have also blocked aid but are more flexible. The Ukrainian president insisted that the idea of ??a negotiation to end the conflict, suggested by some Republicans, is not realistic. “Putin does not need to negotiate,” Zelensky said in the Senate. To date, Moscow continues to demand the same thing as a year ago: a neutral and demilitarized Ukraine, which would turn that country into a puppet similar to Belarus for a neighbor like Russia, with 5,000 atomic bombs on the other side of the border.
But Zelensky did not convince the Republicans, who with each passing day are leaning more in the direction of the isolationism that their party renounced in the 1940s, although an appreciable part of their base sympathizes with Vladimir Putin.
So the Ukrainian president’s testimony was the opposite of what he gave a year ago when he addressed the US Congress. If on that occasion Zelensky was a triumphant hero who had stopped the Russian offensive and was driving Moscow’s soldiers back, now he has been more of someone trying to explain his position.
Officially, the Republican Party demands a tougher fight against illegal immigration, something that is impossible for Democrats to accept, especially in an election year and with an unpopular president running for reelection like Joe Biden.
None publicly confronted Zelensky. In fact, Johnson said that “we stand with Ukraine and against Putin’s brutal invasion.” But, no one from the opposition changed their mind after the visit either. As Republican Senator Roger Wicker said, “both parties are going to have to negotiate very seriously and stop reaffirming their positions over and over again.” By the time they reach an agreement, it could be too late for Ukraine.
