BBC News:
Volodymyr Zelensky’s third visit to Washington on Tuesday was tinged in desperation. It was a last-ditch effort to win new military aid from Congress before the currently approved amount runs dry.
The Ukrainian president is desperate because his nation’s fate may hang in the balance. His American counterpart, Joe Biden, is desperate because he views the Ukrainian war as a pivotal battleground in a world conflict between democracies and autocratic regimes.
At the end of the day, however, there was little to show for their efforts.
When Mr Zelensky came to Washington last year, he was cheered on by a joint session of Congress and treated to a red-carpet reception at the White House. Shortly after, the US approved a $50bn aid package that helped fuel Ukraine’s efforts to regain territory ceded at the outset of the Russian invasion.
This time around was very different. He had a session with US senators behind closed doors. He sat down with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who did not even make a public appearance with the Ukrainian president.
And his welcome at the White House was decidedly low-key, with minimal pomp and ceremony.
It wasn’t exactly a slap on the back and a half-hearted “good luck”, but it might as well have been. Mr Zelensky may have travelled halfway around the world, but the odds that Ukraine gets more military support from the US haven’t improved.
