Russia After visit to the White House: Selenskyj meets Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in New York today. This was announced by Trump. Selensky had already held out the prospect of such a meeting with the former US president a few days ago. However, Trump took longer than expected. The Republican is critical of further US aid for Ukraine and had recently publicly criticized Zelensky for not wanting to enter into a deal with Russia.

In Washington, Zelensky first met the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who gave the Ukrainian billions in further aid for his country just a few months before leaving the White House. US Vice President Kamala Harris, who wants to replace Biden at the head of the government after the election in November, also promised Zelenskyi support and indirectly warned against an election victory for her opponent Trump.

Trump with disparaging remarks about Selenskyj

The outcome of the US election could have a huge impact on the course of the war. There are fears in Ukraine that the USA could largely fail as the country's most important supporter in the defensive battle against Russia if Trump wins the presidential election against Harris on November 5. In the event of an election victory, Trump has signaled that he would dramatically scale back support for Kiev or even stop it altogether.

At an election rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump made disparaging remarks about Zelensky: "We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal," he complained, criticizing the Ukrainian for not making a deal with Moscow to end the war. "Any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have now," Trump said. He also claimed that a reconstruction of Ukraine was hopeless.

Harris warns of consequences for Ukraine in the event of election defeat

Alluding to Trump's statements, Harris warned that an end to the war should not be decided without Ukraine. However, there are "some" in the USA who want this. Their plan is to force Ukraine to give up large parts of its territory, accept a neutral status for its country and renounce the security assurances of other states.

"These proposals are the same as those of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and we should be clear that they are not proposals for peace," Harris said. "Rather, they are proposals for capitulation, which is dangerous and unacceptable." US support for Ukraine is not a charitable act, but is in America's own interests in terms of security policy.

Biden releases billions in aid for Kiev

The Biden and Harris administration has provided massive support to Ukraine in the fight against Russia's war of aggression over the past two and a half years and has provided 58.7 billion dollars (52.5 billion euros) in military aid alone since the start of the war in February 2022. 2.4 billion of these are funds that Biden has now released during Zelensky's visit to Washington. The US President emphasized that he had also ensured that billions in aid already pledged would not lapse and would be drawn down by the end of his term of office in January. According to the White House, this amounts to 5.5 billion dollars.

The new aid package from Washington includes another Patriot air defense system, long-range glide bombs and drones. The USA also wants to support the training of a further 18 Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. The American-built aircraft are provided by other countries, but the US government is participating in the training program.

Ukraine meeting on October 12 in Germany

Biden also wants to organize further international support for Ukraine. He will travel to Germany in mid-October and plans to organize a meeting of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group, which is led by the USA, at the level of heads of state and government on 12 October. This was officially announced by the White House following the meeting between Biden and Zelensky. Selensky is also expected to be present.

Around 50 countries belong to the Ukraine Contact Group, including Germany. The defense ministers of the member states normally take part in the regular talks. The USA and Germany are Ukraine's largest arms suppliers.

Zelenskyi with details of "victory plan" at the White House

Zelensky thanked the USA for the new aid package and presented a "victory plan" he had devised during his talks in Washington. According to media reports, it is a paper consisting of four to five points that read less like a plan and more like another of the lists of wishes regularly presented by Kiev to its Western partners - including the delivery of specific weapons and an expansion of Western financial aid.

Meanwhile, the fighting in eastern Ukraine continues with undiminished ferocity. According to the General Staff in Kiev, there were 181 battles during the course of the day. The heaviest sections of the front continue to be Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, according to the evening situation report. According to the report, the Russian military launched more than 70 attacks in this area alone. Pokrovsk is considered strategically important, as the terrain opens up to the west from there - and thus opens the way for the Russians into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region.