U.S. President Joe Biden met with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander civil right leaders in the State Dining Room at the White House on August 5, 2021 in Washington DC.
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden will present a broad-ranging humanitarian aid package and military assistance package to Ukraine during Wednesday's visit by Volodymyr Zelensky (the president of Ukraine) to the White House.
The package includes $60 million of military aid that has been newly designated, including Javelin antitank missiles, small arms, and ammunition. Biden informed Congress last week that he would release funds to Ukraine to assist in its defense of its eastern border against Russian-backed separatists.
A White House official, who asked anonymity to discuss the visit, stated that another $45 million would be provided in humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by the separatists’ guerilla war.
The official stated that the U.S. will provide $12.8 million to Ukraine in addition to the $55 million in Covid-related assistance the Biden administration already provided.
The White House is facing dueling crises at both home and abroad, so Zelensky's meeting to Biden comes at a crucial time.
More than one million people in Louisiana and Mississippi still had no electricity Wednesday morning after Hurricane Ida.
As the Biden administration intensifies its efforts to resettle the tens of thousands Afghan refugees who were evacuated from Afghanistan as part of their U.S. military withdrawal, there is a humanitarian crisis and border crisis.
Zelensky had been scheduled to meet with Biden Monday. However, his visit was postponed so that it could receive the "attention it deserves", a White House official stated.
Zelensky will seek assurances from Biden when the two leaders meet on Wednesday that America's support for Ukraine remains unwavering as the country enters its seventh year in guerilla warfare with Russia.
According to a White House official, Biden will announce several steps that aim to deepen the already close relationship between Washington DC and Kyiv.
The official stated that one of them would be to restart U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission. This commission has not met for three years.
Biden and Zelensky also plan to announce new energy initiatives, such as a Strategic Energy and Climate Dialogue that will be under the control of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm was part of a U.S. delegation that traveled to Ukraine in late August to commemorate the country's 30-year anniversary of independence.
However, energy security could be a difficult topic for Zelensky and Biden.
