President Volodymyr Zelensky’s long quest for a White House visit ended in success on Sept. 1, marking a milestone in Ukraine’s relationship with its most important partner.
The two-hour-long conversation between Zelensky and U. S. President Joe Biden resulted in a joint statement and a promise of closer ties.
“The partnership between our nations grows stronger, and it’s going to even become stronger than it has been,” said Biden.
He reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to back Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression and to support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
The meeting brought a drop of comfort at a precarious moment in the two countries’ relationship.
Months ago, the Biden administration struck a blow against Ukraine by greenlighting the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. More recently, the tumultuous American withdrawal from Afghanistan as the country fell to the Taliban led many to question the U.S. commitment to supporting its allies.
The U. S., in turn, wants to see more progress with rule of law reforms in Ukraine — something that Zelensky hasn’t yet delivered.
While framing the White House meeting as a major success, Zelensky allowed one hint that it wasn’t perfect.
“The meeting took place in a normal, productive, not always a cloudless atmosphere,” Zelensky said after the talk with Biden. “It was a man-to-man conversation.”
Among the victories of his trip, Zelensky counts a $117 million military and humanitarian aid package, an “extensive discussion” of security issues and reassurances of support that Ukraine hopes were heard in the Kremlin.
Defense partnership
Defense and security was the key topic of Zelensky’s first face-to-face meeting with Biden. The two presidents spoke over the phone twice prior to their meeting.
Biden was considered a strong proponent of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, visiting the country six times while serving as vice president under President Barack Obama.
In recent months, Biden’s image of “a friend of Ukraine” shattered as he kept Ukraine’s leadership at arm’s length and chose a softer stance on Russia.
Ukrainian leadership hoped to receive ammunition, military equipment and naval assistance out of the Washington meeting, as Ukraine seeks to rebuild its Black Sea fleet.
The resulting joint statement didn’t meet those expectations.
“There is bilateral interest in security in the Black Sea region and there are concrete things that we proposed, unfortunately, I can’t share the details,” Zelensky said after the meeting, hinting that some agreements might be signed when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits Ukraine later this year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) enters the Pentagon accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Arlington on Aug. 31, 2021. (AFP)
Biden confirmed the allocation of up to $60 million in military assistance to Ukraine. The new assistance package will include more Javelin anti-tank missiles.
He said he provided the aid because of the “major increase in Russian military activity along the border.”
UkrOboronProm, Ukraine’s state-owned defense production conglomerate, signed three framework agreements with U.S.-based defense companies, worth up to $2.5 billion.
The biggest catch was an agreement with L3Harris Technologies, which specializes in producing wireless equipment, tactical radio and electronic systems. UkrOboronProm also signed agreements with two low-profile companies Global Ordnance and DAY & Zimmermann Lone Star, which specialize in producing ammunition and logistics.
Taras Chmut, a retired marine and the chief editor of the Ukrainian Military Portal news site, told the Kyiv Post that without more details about these agreements, it’s hard to assess their substance.
According to Zelensky, the two presidents have also extensively discussed Russia’s ongoing occupation of Donbas and Crimea. Since March 2014, when the war began, some 14,000 people have been killed and over 1.5 million people have been displaced.
Zelensky asked the U.S. to join the Donbas peace talks and to assist Ukraine in returning approximately 450 captives held in Russia and the occupied Donbas and Crimea.
“We handed over a list of all Ukrainian prisoners, a list of people who are imprisoned in occupied Donbas, occupied Crimea, and in Russia,” Zelensky said during his opening remarks.
“What role, what assistance can the U.S. provide?” he added.
The U. S. also allocated $45 million in humanitarian aid and $12.8 million in COVID‑19 assistance.
Asked after the meeting whether he received any security guarantees or a roadmap for a potential NATO accession, Zelensky said Ukraine received “support,” yet “no deadlines.”
No energy
Energy security was the next big issue. Ukraine signed a framework agreement for a $30 billion nuclear energy project but got nothing from the U.S. to make up for Nord Stream 2.
Zelensky oversaw the signing of a memorandum between state nuclear monopoly Energoatom and the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric to build a nuclear reactor unit for the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Zelensky said that a total of five nuclear reactors are to be built in Ukraine by the company in the future. Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant currently has two reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each. Two more have been commissioned.
“The implementation of the memorandum will provide an opportunity to attract investment for the construction of reactors worth about $30 billion,” the president’s office said in a statement.
Not surprisingly, the Nord Stream 2 didn’t get much attention from the U.S.
“The U. S. and Ukraine continue to oppose Nord Stream 2, which we view as a threat to European energy security,” the joint statement said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) walks with U.S. President Joe Biden after their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Sept. 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Press Service of the President of Ukraine)
However, it was the Biden administration that waived sanctions placed on the Swiss-registered parent company Nord Stream 2 AG in May, paving way for the pipeline’s completion by the end of the year.
According to Zelensky, his counterpart promised to introduce more sanctions on Russia if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is used to pressure Ukraine. The White House didn’t comment on Zelensky’s words.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz accused Biden of not doing enough to stop the pipeline.
“Nord Stream 2 will directly and acutely endanger the national security of our allies, gift (Russian President Vladimir) Putin with a generational win, and undermine the safety of Americans,” said Cruz, who’s been vocal in his criticism of Biden, a Democrat. “Solar panels aren’t going to deter Russian aggression.”
Reforms wanted
Unsurprisingly, the need for reforms was extensively mentioned throughout the joint statement.
The White House called for reforms of Ukraine’s judiciary, defense industry, Security Service, expansion of the corporate governance reform, the protection of the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
“Ukraine intends to reform state-owned enterprises, protect central bank independence, strengthen financial sector supervision, and create a fair business and investment environment,” the statement said.
The statement also mentions the need to select the new head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office quickly and transparently. The key position has been vacant since August 2020.
Additionally, the State Investigation Bureau lacks the head since December 2019, while NABU Head Artem Sytnyk has been on the hot seat since Zelensky took office in May 2019. Zelensky’s party recently registered a bill set to fire the unwanted chief.
“Needless to explain what price Ukraine will pay if Zelensky, God forbid, gives up on this publicly recorded part of the (joint) statement,” wrote Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center.
“These commitments are public so that Ukrainians know exactly what Zelensky needs to do to maintain U.S. support in the war against Russia (military, financial and political support),” Shabunin wrote.
Ukraine has a long way to go if it wants to meet all the mentioned benchmarks.
Ukraine launched the judicial reform process, yet failed to reform the Security Service, while the ex-National Bank Head Yakiv Smoliy resigned in July 2020, citing “political pressure.”
California trip
After Washington, Zelensky flew to California where he’s expected to meet with tech executives.
“In total, we expect around 20 agreements signed because we still have (meetings in) San Francisco and Los Angeles,” said Zelensky.
According to Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine wants to attract Google, Apple and other tech giants to Ukraine.
Attracting big business and investors was one of the key themes of Zelensky’s U.S. trip.
Zelensky went as far as to promise a massive transformation plan for Ukraine, consisting of over 80 projects requiring $277 billion in investment.
The roadmap sets up “ambitious goals for human capital development, green transformation and energy security,” Zelensky said.
Yet, as with most agreements, memorandums and ambitious bilateral projects, no details were given, leaving the experts watching for the next round of talks.
“We have been here before with the signing of various statements, framework agreements, statements of intent, and relaunching of strategic dialogues by previous Ukrainian authorities and American administrations,” Edward Chow, an international energy expert, told the Kyiv Post.
“What is needed now is to put meat on the bones of the structure and processes that were agreed. This is what the market is looking for, concrete progress in reform leading to bilateral cooperation in security and economic fields.”
