Zelensky is in US to current ‘victory plan’ to Biden, Harris and Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the United States to present his plan to end the war with Russia to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Zelensky will present his proposals – which he calls a ‘victory plan’ – to the trio this week and press the case for Ukraine to use long-range missiles on targets inside Vladimir Putin’s territory.

Kyiv for weeks has urged West to allow it to use the weapons to strike deeper into Russia, but the Biden administration is still not convinced that it should give Ukraine that authority.

US officials say they are seeking more detailed information about how Kyiv would use the weapons and how they fit into the broader strategy for the war. 

Zelensky is expected to try to convince Biden to change his mind when they meet at the White House on Thursday.

The Ukrainian President, who landed in the US on Sunday, began his American tour by visiting a factory in Pennsylvania that produces badly needed 155mm artillery shells. He will next travel to New York and Washington. 

‘I began my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the employees at the plant,’ Zelensky said Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The post included photos of him shaking hands with workers at the plant, where he said production had been ramped up.

‘It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,’ he wrote.

The visit comes after a summer of intense fighting – with Moscow advancing fast in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv holding on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region.

Zelensky said the coming weeks would decide how more than 30 months of fighting that has killed thousands would end.

‘It is now being determined what the legacy of the current generation of states leaders will be. Those in the highest offices,’ he said.

In comments before his trip, Zelensky said the US and UK have not given Ukraine permission to use the long-range weapons as they fear escalation, but hinted he had not given up hope.

‘We have had some decisions in the history of our relationship with Biden — very interesting and difficult dialogues,’ Zelensky said earlier this week, adding: ‘He later changed his point of view.’

Moscow has said it considers such a go-ahead as NATO countries being ‘at war’ with Russia.

A close adviser to Biden said this month that the US leader would use his remaining time in office to ‘put Ukraine in the best possible position to prevail.’

No details on Ukraine’s plan have been made public.

Zelensky said Biden would be the first foreign leader to see the plan ‘in full’ – saying it will then also be presented to ‘all leaders of our partner countries.’

The Ukrainian President plans to present the proposals to the US Congress, Harris and Trump. 

The White House has said he will meet with Democratic Vice President Harris separately from Biden, and Zelensky has said he expects to meet with Republican Trump on Thursday or Friday.

Harris has indicated she would continue Biden’s policies on Ukraine, while Trump has been hugely critical of Washington’s massive aid packages for Kyiv.

Zelensky said earlier this week that the plan envisages that ‘war will not return to us again in an even bigger wave’ in years to come.

He has said Kyiv plans to hold meetings throughout autumn and that the ‘entire plan’ will be ready by ‘early November.’

The proposals, he told the media Friday, envisage ‘quick and concrete steps by our strategic partners.’

One of those steps, he said, is ‘related to strengthening Ukraine’s weapons capabilities’ while another demands a ‘clear place for Ukraine in the world’s security architecture’.

Zelensky has also said he plans to invite Russia to a possible second international peace summit in November.

But Moscow this weekend said it would not attend and referred to President Putin‘s conditions to enter talks: that Ukraine surrender four of its regions.

‘I think both are still betting on the possibility of a military victory,’ UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told CNN Sunday.

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed six people – including two children – this weekend, while a strike on the city of Kharkiv wounded 21 people in a residential neighborhood.

Ukraine said it struck two arms depots in Russia, with Kyiv‘s army saying it hit a key ammunition storage base important to the Russian army’s logistics for its invasion.