Archived version: https://archive.ph/4cNnW
The trip, which was viewed as a key opportunity by Ukrainian officials for Zelensky to sell the United States on how to support Ukraine going forward, failed to resonate in Washington. Biden held his stance on prohibiting U.S.-provided longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia and Zelensky found himself caught in a political crossfire as influential Republicans largely criticized or snubbed him. A meeting with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — Zelensky’s first since the start of the war — came together hastily after Trump initially said he didn’t plan to meet.
Zelensky’s U.S. swing reinforced the sort of unsettling limbo Ukraine now finds itself in going forward — reliant on the United States as its main ally to arm it against Russia yet unsure how long that support will continue as attention on the war fades in its third year and with the new escalation in the Middle East.