'Russia will not prevail', Biden tells Zelenskyy during White House talks on Ukraine's 'victory plan'

US President Joe Biden met Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Thursday and during the talks on Kyiv’s “victory plan” against Moscow told the Ukrainian President that “Russia will not prevail”.

Hours before their meeting, the US president had announced $8 billion surge in military aid for Kyiv’s fight against Russia.

“Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail, and we’ll continue to stand by you every step of the way,” AFP quoted Biden as saying to Zelenskyy, who wore his trademark military-style clothes, in the Oval Office.

Zelenskyy replied that “we deeply appreciate that Ukraine and America have stood side by side.”

Zelensky’s visit, however, was clouded by a blazing row with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that underscored how November’s US election could upend the support that Kyiv receives from its biggest backer.

Zelenskyy is looking to shore up support for his war effort at the same time as Biden tries to lock in aid for Ukraine, ahead of the white-knuckle vote pitting Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris against firebrand Trump.

This meeting between Zelenskyy and Joe Biden marks their 11th encounter and is Ukrainian president’s fifth visit to Washington since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ahead of the meeting, Biden had released a statement, saying, “I am proud to welcome president Zelenskyy back to the White House today. For nearly three years, the United States has rallied the world to stand with the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom from Russian aggression, and it has been a top priority of my Administration to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to prevail.”

Announcing more than $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine earlier in the day, Biden said in a statement that the “surge in security assistance for Ukraine” would “help Ukraine win this war.”

The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km). The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances.

The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not announce that Washington would let Ukraine use US missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia, Reuters quoted a US official as saying.

Supporting Ukraine has been a US top priority, Reuters quoted Biden as saying in a statement.

“That is why, today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war,” said Biden, who leaves office in January.

The bulk of the new aid, $5.5 billion, is to be allocated before Monday’s end of the US fiscal year, when the funding authority is set to expire. Another $2.4 billion is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from US stocks.

According to The Guardian report, Biden has instructed the Defence Department to allocate all remaining security funding designated for Ukraine by the end of his term.

Biden has also directed the Defence Department to expand training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, including support for training an extra 18 pilots next year, added the report.

With inputs from agencies