JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent today in Washington meeting with leaders to press for ongoing support for his country in the war against Russia. President Biden and Vice President Harris each met with him separately.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: History is so clear in reminding us - the United States cannot and should not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Isolation is not insulation.
SUMMERS: He also met with bipartisan groups in the House and Senate. Zelenskyy is here to present his, quote, "victory plan" to end the war with Russia.
NPR's Franco Ordoñez has been following this and joins me now. Hey, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Franco, before we get to the somewhat contentious political parts of his visit, let's just start by talking about what exactly Zelenskyy was looking for in his meetings with Biden and Harris.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, this trip to Washington was part of a larger visit, you know, tied to the United General Assembly, which he addressed yesterday. I mean, in the Oval Office, Biden outlined new assistance for Ukraine, including $8 billion for weapons and military aid.
Zelenskyy also met with Harris, and they gave remarks together to the press. Harris actually warned that if allies don't stand up to aggressors like Russian President Vladimir Putin, that they're only going to go further. And without mentioning her political opponent by name, Harris kind of appeared to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump, criticizing those who suggest Ukraine should give up some of its territory in order to end the war.
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HARRIS: These proposals are the same of those of Putin. And let us be clear - they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender.
SUMMERS: And Franco, what about Zelenskyy's so-called "victory plan"? What can you tell us about that?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, Zelenskyy said he would outline the plan to both Biden and Harris. It's basically a blueprint for defeating Russia and what he needs from the West to do that. The main request, though, is being allowed to use U.S- and Western-provided long-range missiles to hit targets inside of Russia. That's one thing that the United States and Western allies have resisted doing out of fear of escalating the conflict. Biden and Zelenskyy actually plan to keep talking about all these kind of things when they meet again next month in Germany.
SUMMERS: And I understand that Zelenskyy also spent some time on Capitol Hill. How'd that go?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, he met with a bipartisan group of senators and House members. Zelenskyy told senators that in order to win, he needs to get Putin to the negotiating table. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says the only way to do that is to hit Russia harder than it's being hit today.
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LINDSEY GRAHAM: He believes, if he could shut down those Russian air bases and missile bases that are attacking his country, that would give him leverage to get Putin to the table. I believe that, too.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, and Graham argued that what Biden does this week could determine the outcome of the war, again, calling for a change in strategy and allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets, military targets, in Russia.
SUMMERS: Franco, let's turn to the politics here. We talked about this being a big American tour for Zelenskyy.
ORDOÑEZ: Right.
SUMMERS: It included a visit to an ammunitions plant earlier this week. He went there to thank the workers, but things seemed to go a little sideways. Walk us through that.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, it's because the ammunition plant is in Pennsylvania, which, as we know, is perhaps the most critical battleground state in this year's election. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson actually wrote a letter to Zelenskyy, demanding that he fire Ukraine ambassador to the United States. He called the visit a partisan campaign event to help the Democrats. He went so far to call it election interference.
I mean, these are allies of former President Trump, who has a rocky relationship with Zelenskyy. This week, Trump accused Zelenskyy of wanting the Democrats to win. But the two are still planning to meet tomorrow.
SUMMERS: NPR's Franco Ordoñez, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thanks, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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