The U.S. President Joe Biden invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington as the war in Ukraine has entered a new phase.
The representative of the National Security Council of the White House John Kirby noted this in an interview with CNN.
"The president really believes that as weʼre heading into winter, as weʼre entering into... a new phase of this war, Mr. Putinʼs aggression, that this is a good time for the two leaders to sit down and talk," Kirby stated.
The talks are expected to focus on continuing military and economic aid to Ukraine and maintaining and implementing new sanctions against Russia. But Kirby added that Biden and Zelensky will also discuss options for ending the war.
"I have no doubt that they will talk about President Zelenskyʼs vision of a ʼjust peaceʼ, what it looks like, its ʼcomponentsʼ and how we will help Ukraine achieve it," Kirby noted.
He added that Zelensky was aware of the risks he was taking by leaving Ukraine, and the United States was working to ensure that this trip was safe.
Kirby also declined to say when the Patriot missile defense system would be deployed in Ukraine. "It takes a long time for our troops to be trained on how to operate them. So, we will have to take all this into account," explained the White House Security Council representative.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the USA on December 21. He will meet with the U.S. President Joe Biden, address Congress and hold a series of bilateral meetings. This will be Zelenskyʼs second visit to the White House and his first trip abroad since the start of the full-scale invasion.