Biden Affirms Assist for Ukraine Towards ‘Russian Aggression’

WASHINGTON — President Biden on Wednesday assured Ukraine’s president that america remained against “Russian aggression” within the area, utilizing an Oval Workplace assembly to affirm his help for a pacesetter unnerved by America’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan.

The assembly with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine additionally allowed Mr. Biden to ship a message to Russia that he was dedicated to standing by a strategic accomplice that Moscow has invaded.

“The partnership between our nations grows stronger and its going to turn into even stronger,” Mr. Biden mentioned, noting the 2 nations had a “related worth system” that included a dedication to a Europe that was “entire, free and at peace.”

Regardless of a delay of some days, due partially to the unfolding disaster in Afghanistan, Mr. Zelensky lastly obtained the Oval Workplace reception he had been looking for since his election in 2019. His earlier efforts to safe such a gathering with President Donald J. Trump led to Mr. Zelensky unwittingly changing into entangled in a world incident that led to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial.

Mr. Zelensky, for his half, thanked america for a brand new $60 million protection support bundle and mentioned he needed to concentrate on safety points, together with the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Talking via a translator, he expressed condolences for the 13 U.S. service members killed final week in Afghanistan. “We’re very compassionate, since we’ve been coping with such tragic losses for eight years in a row,” Mr. Zelensky mentioned, referring to these killed preventing in jap Ukraine towards Russian-backed separatists.

In the course of the assembly, Mr. Biden additionally informed Mr. Zelensky that he needed to journey to Ukraine, which no American president has visited since President George W. Bush in 2008. Mr. Biden visited Ukraine recurrently as vice chairman.

A present of help could also be obligatory. Ukrainians have been discouraged as they’ve watched America’s unruly and abrupt exit from Afghanistan. “Their fear is that commitments, understandings and confidence that they’ve had from and with america may very well be jeopardized by this,” mentioned William B. Taylor Jr., who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine between 2006 and 2009, and who was a star witness throughout Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial.

“They virtually desperately wish to imagine that the longtime help for Ukraine, over administrations of every kind, goes to persist,” he mentioned. “However they’ll’t assist however be involved once they see america rapidly, and with some disarray, pulling out of a rustic the place we’ve been for 20 years.”

Mr. Biden’s goal forward of the assembly was to reveal a transparent dedication to Ukraine’s sovereignty, officers mentioned. The choice to permit Mr. Zelensky to be solely the second European chief to go to the White Home since Mr. Biden’s inauguration despatched a powerful sign that Ukraine stays a precedence for the administration.

Supporting Ukraine is crucial for an administration that has made strengthening Democratic norms at residence and overseas as a key goal, international coverage consultants mentioned.

Mr. Biden additionally signed off on a brand new $60 million support bundle with Ukraine that included Javelin anti-armor missiles and different deadly weapons, an official mentioned, and introduced new agreements on safety, power and local weather coordination after bilateral conferences with the visiting Ukrainian delegation.

The Biden administration has now offered greater than $400 million in safety help to Ukraine this yr, an official mentioned.

The Trump administration additionally offered deadly weapons to Ukraine, reversing a choice not to take action by the Obama administration, when Mr. Biden was vice chairman. Former President Barack Obama restricted American support to Ukraine to “nonlethal” gadgets like physique armor, night-vision goggles and first support kits, to keep away from tempting President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to boost the stakes.

The Biden administration was additionally anticipated to signal a revised strategic protection framework to spice up cooperation on safety, cybersecurity and intelligence sharing, setting the stage for nearer cooperation that can enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian army, officers mentioned.

Total, nevertheless, Mr. Biden’s file on Ukraine has been combined, consultants mentioned. The administration dropped its efforts earlier this yr to dam the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which can transport pure fuel instantly from Russia to Germany, permitting Russia to bypass Ukraine and deprive it of income from transit charges.

In a joint assertion launched after the assembly, each nations acknowledged that they “proceed to oppose Nord Stream 2, which we view as a risk to European power safety.”

The Biden administration has additionally not but introduced a nominee to function ambassador to Ukraine, a place that has remained vacant since 2019 when Marie L. Yovanovitch was ousted from her job for obvious disloyalty to Mr. Trump.