Zelensky makes his pitch - will US sceptics buy it, asks North America correspondent awzurcher
President Volodymyr Zelensky has been tethered to Ukrainian soil ever since Russia invaded his country nearly 10 months ago.
In the run-up to war, Russia had tried to convince Ukrainians that the US was using their country as a geopolitical pawn - and that Americans would abandon them, as they did their Afghan allies. With this high-profile meeting in Washington, Mr Zelensky and Mr Biden are seeking to demonstrate to the Ukrainian and American people, to Western allies, to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to the world - that US support for Ukraine is strong and durable.Throughout their joint press conference, Mr Biden and Mr Zelensky tried to characterise American aid as serving a larger purpose.
Over the course of this year, Congress has approved approximately $67bn in economic and military and economic assistance to Ukraine. A 2023 spending package Congress is poised to pass this week includes an additional $45bn in Ukraine aid.Watch: Ukraine's Zelensky addresses US Congress The midterms have brought in 86 new members of the House and seven new senators. Mr Zelensky's speech can also be viewed as an introduction to these new legislators and a pitch for their support. Coaxing further aid out of the House may prove the greater challenge - but in his speech to Congress he was willing to try."We have artillery. Is it enough? Not really," Mr Zelensky said, to some mutters from the congressional audience.
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