President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine completed a three-day visit to the United States on Thursday, after addressing the U.N. General Assembly and trying to shore up continued support from Washington. Here are four key moments from his trip.
A warning at the U.N.
Mr. Zelensky gave on Tuesday his first in-person address to the annual gathering of the General Assembly since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He presented Russia’s aggression as a threat to the world, saying that all nations have a vested interest in helping defeat Russia.
“The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,” Mr. Zelensky told the dignitaries. He added that Russia was weaponizing essentials like food and energy “not only against our country, but against all of yours, as well.”
A scathing speech
Speaking to the Security Council, Mr. Zelensky criticized the United Nations for failing to prevent or resolve conflicts like the one destroying his country and called for Russia to be stripped of the veto power it has as a permanent member of the council.
“Ukrainian soldiers are doing with their blood what the U.N. Security Council should do by its voting,” Mr. Zelensky said on Wednesday, adding that “veto power in the hands of the aggressor is what has pushed the U.N. into deadlock.” Any proposed change to the veto rule would itself be subject to a veto.
Lobbying Washington for aid
The Ukrainian president met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where dozens of Republicans have voiced their opposition to sending more weapons to Ukraine. “If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war,” Mr. Zelensky said, according to Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and a Democrat.
Mr. Zelensky appeared to have made little immediate progress in persuading the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives to approve an additional $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
A meeting with Biden
Mr. Zelensky finished his visit at the White House, where he met with President Biden on Thursday after receiving a $325 million air-defense package from existing funding. Mr. Biden also said that next week the U.S. would begin shipping over Abrams tanks, which Ukraine has long sought and which the Biden administration in January agreed to donate. Mr. Biden acknowledged that he had little choice but to have faith in a bipartisan breakthrough for continued support for Ukraine.
“I’m counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress,” Mr. Biden said. “There’s no alternative.”