Zelensky: Ukraine will lose the war without US help

  The President of Ukraine said: “If billions of dollars worth of American aid stops, we will lose the war with Russia.” Since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, the United States has led Western support for Ukraine, and the U.S. Congress has approved more than $100 billion in aid to Kiev, including $43 billion for weapons. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, a key supporter of President Joe Biden's policies, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told him that "if we don't get help, we're going to lose the war."

Meanwhile, an unnamed US official said the aid package soon to be announced by Biden includes the AIM-M9 air defense system, Heimers missile launcher and Avenger air defense system, anti-drone machine guns, cannonballs and cluster bombs. Other items of this assistance also include the provision of anti-missile systems and more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition. Meanwhile, polls show Republican support for Ukraine is declining. The head of the Russian State Duma defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov, also warned about sending F-16s and Mirage 2000s to Ukraine, saying that these fighters are not capable of challenging modern Russian fighters in air combat.

Kartapolov added: “Pilots can be trained to fly these aircraft, but the most important issue is the training of technical personnel. The F-16 is a complex aircraft and its maintenance is difficult.” Recently, Kiev and Paris are on the verge of an agreement on the transfer of Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine. Zelensky arrived in Washington on Thursday and said that he expects to “conduct important negotiations” and “air defense for Ukraine is one of the most important topics in these negotiations.” Meanwhile, NBC News reported that US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected Zelensky's request to address a joint session of Congress. He opposed the request, citing a busy congressional week and time constraints, and said Zelensky had the opportunity to address the body earlier. Zelensky is in Washington to meet with US lawmakers and President Joe Biden.

This week he addressed the UN General Assembly and called for military and national assistance from more countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine that the risk of a world war is increasing. Lavrov stressed that Russia is not abandoning negotiations with Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that if the United States wants, it can order Kyiv to cancel the order prohibiting negotiations with Moscow. “At the same time, the European Union wants to grant membership to the government of Ukraine without waiting in line, while Serbia and Turkey have to wait for years to join the union,” noted the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov emphasized: “In addition, by supporting the actions of the Kyiv regime after the referendum in Crimea and Donbass, the West violated the principle of self-determination of the residents of these two regions.”