Ukraine Touts Battlefield Successes As Zelenskiy Prepares To Meet Biden Next Week

Ukraine has claimed multiple victories in its ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces as its president prepares for meetings next week with U.S. President Joe Biden and Congress that could prove influential in mustering international support for Kyiv as it battles Russia's 18-month-old invasion.

U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on September 15 that Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington on September 21 for what will be their third meeting at the White House.

Both Biden and Zelenskiy are slated to address the 78th session of the UN General Assembly next week, and Zelenskiy is expected to use his in-person appearance with U.S. and world leaders to rally support and plead for advanced weapons and ammunition to aid his country's ongoing counteroffensive to retake Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces.

Sullivan also said that Zelenskiy will visit the U.S. Capitol, where he can meet "congressional leaders from both parties to make the case that the United States has been a great friend and partner to Ukraine throughout this entire brutal war."

The U.S. Congress is currently debating Biden's request to provide as much as $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

“It certainly comes at a critical time, as Russia desperately seeks help from countries like North Korea for its brutal war in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in their counteroffensive, and just after the next Ukraine defense contact group meeting," Sullivan said, referring to a meeting organized by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that will be held in Europe next week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit this week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in eastern Russia in what Western officials believe could be an effort by Moscow to trade advanced technology for ammunition to feed its war in Ukraine.

Putin and Kim are reportedly planning to meet again in North Korea at Kim's invitation.

Reports have suggested that pressure from the United States and other allies has mounted on Ukraine to demonstrate success in the ongoing major counteroffensive it launched in June. Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials have pushed back on criticisms about the pace of the Ukrainian military's push to retake Russian-occupied areas of southern and eastern Ukraine.

SEE ALSO: Ukraine's Zelenskiy Hails Destruction Of Russian Air-Defense System In Occupied Crimea

Earlier this month, Zelenskiy announced that he had replaced Ukraine's defense minister because "new approaches" were needed.

He also has repeatedly touted the Ukrainian military's successes on the battlefield, insisting that "no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing."

Late on September 14, Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that Ukrainian forces had achieved a "triumph" earlier in the day by "destroying" Russian air defenses in occupied Crimea.

But reports have nevertheless suggested that pressure from the United States and other allies has mounted on Ukraine to demonstrate success in the counteroffensive it launched in June. Last week, Zelenskiy said that "slower" arms shipments from Western countries were threatening the counteroffensive and called for a renewed drive to impose further sanctions on Moscow.

The Biden-Zelenskiy meeting would be their first since the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July.

Zelenskiy last visited the United States in December, in his first trip abroad since the all-out invasion began in February 2022.

Early on September 15, the General Staff of Ukraine's military said its troops had retaken the Donetsk town of Andriyivka, about 10 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, "inflicting significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment."

A day earlier, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar announced the liberation of Andriyivka before withdrawing her statement and saying heavy fighting there was continuing and the situation was "very difficult and volatile."

Ukraine's military also said it was having "partial success" in the nearby area of Klishchiyivka.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm claims of battlefield developments by either side in areas of the heaviest fighting.

With reporting by CNN, The Washington Post, and Reuters