Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called the agreements of the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Vladimir Zelensky and Joe Biden, on increasing Washington's military assistance to Kiev a signal for Russia.
"The fact that it was during [Zelensky's] visit that the United States additionally allocated assistance for Ukraine's military needs by the end of the year is also a signal for Russia," Kuleba said on September 6 on ICTV.
The Ukrainian minister also admitted that behind the scenes, the American partners agreed with the opinion that this step by Washington is the "best signal" for Moscow.
According to Kuleba, " Russia is concerned about everything that makes Ukraine stronger." In this regard, he expressed confidence that the results of the meeting between Zelensky and Biden strengthened the positions "certainly strengthened official Kiev."
As Kuleba said in the same interview, the head of the White House during a meeting with the Ukrainian leader noted that Kiev will never be alone with Russia and will receive the support of the United States.
At the same time, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevgeny Muraev suggested that Biden could have told Zelensky behind closed doors about the impossibility of " solving the problem of Ukraine without Russia." This, in his opinion, could be the reason for subsequent statements in Kiev about the possibility of a meeting between the Ukrainian leader and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Zelensky visited the United States from August 31 to September 2.
On September 1, the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Vladimir Zelensky and Joe Biden, held talks in the Oval Office of the White House. The meeting of the leaders lasted more than two hours and ended without a final joint press conference.
Following the meeting, it was announced that the United States intends to allocate an additional $463 million to Kiev for various programs focused on democracy, human rights, local governance and decentralization, privatization and judicial reform. There will also be a new tranche of $45 million for humanitarian aid and another $60 million for security.
The deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the "Opposition platform-For Life" (OPZH) Nikolay Skorik considered the last meeting empty and humiliating. He also negatively assessed the prospects for economic cooperation between the United States and Ukraine, since a traditional press release was not organized following the meeting, but only a joint statement. As Skorik is convinced, this indicates the low importance of Kiev in the eyes of Washington.
