Biden, Harris to meet with Zelenskyy at the White House next week

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will both meet separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House next week, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Thursday.

“The leaders will discuss the state of the war between Russia and Ukraine, including Ukraine’s strategic planning and U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” she said in a statement. “The President and Vice President will emphasize their unshakeable commitment to stand with Ukraine until it prevails in this war.”

The meeting comes as Kyiv has pushed the United States and its allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range missiles to attack targets inside Russia. Zelenskyy met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the issue last week, but the White House emphasized days after the meeting that it has not changed its stance on the issue.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine’s use of such weapons provided by the U.S. and its western allies to strike inside his country would “change the very essence of the conflict,” which has stretched on for more than two years.

The meeting also comes as Harris has sought to make support for Ukraine a key pillar of her campaign against Republican nominee Donald Trump. 

During last week’s presidential debate, Trump declined twice to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war against Russia, only saying that he wants the war to end, adding he would settle it quickly if elected and it “would have never happened” if he were still president” in a jab at Biden and Harris.

Had Trump still been president, Harris fired back, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe.”

“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up,” she added, a nod to recent efforts to court Polish American voters. 

Zelenskyy’s office said that the Ukrainian leader will also meet with Trump while in the U.S.

“Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden to present the Plan for Victory,” his office said Thursday. “The President of Ukraine expects to discuss the details of this Plan, as well as the United States’ support for Ukraine in its fight for freedom. In addition, the President of Ukraine plans to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, representatives of the U.S. Congress from both parties, and the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump.”

Last week in Kyiv, Blinken pledged an enduring support from the U.S. and its allies while announcing a new of funding, amounting to more than $700 million, to help the war-torn country repair its energy and electric grid, supply “vital services” like water, food and shelter and remove landmines that Russia has left in the area.