Rada European Integration Committee head on Zelenskyy's visit to USA: There are both pros and cons
Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (European Solidarity faction) named the pros and cons of the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the United States.
"In fact, it is good that this visit took place. And it was important to make maximum use of both the podium and the opportunities for meetings during the UN General Assembly," Klympush-Tsintsadze told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the MP, despite the fact that the UN is an institution that today demonstrates its inability to cope with its main goal – ensuring peace on the planet, it is necessary to use this podium as an opportunity to meet with leaders of other countries to advance the Ukrainian agenda.
"It is good that the President of Ukraine took part in this event and tried to reach out to our partners as much as possible," the MP said.
Klympush-Tsintsadze noted the importance of the bilateral meetings held by Zelenskyy in New York, including with partners who signed security agreements with Ukraine. She said the value of such meetings is that "the Ukrainian theme continues to be heard in those countries where it is not a priority, such as in India."
"But this visit was not a purely international visit, but also a visit to the United States. And here we have both advantages and challenges," Klympush-Tsintsadze said.
The MP positively assessed the results of Zelenskyy's meetings in Congress, in the U.S. Presidential Administration, as well as with two candidates for the post of U.S. President.
"The very fact of these meetings is already important. We have positive news from the Biden Administration that more than $7 billion (approved by Congress this spring) will be used by the United States to provide assistance to Ukraine. And these are sensitive and significant things for military assistance to Ukraine," the MP said.
At the same time, Klympush-Tsintsadze said "the hyped-up, over-hyped plan for Ukraine's victory, which the President presented to Congress, the U.S. President and candidates for the U.S. presidency, did not receive any resonance or meaningful feedback," which would indicate a serious conversation regarding this plan. She recalled that unnamed sources from the Biden Administration said that this plan is not something new and strategic, but simply "repackaged wishes and needs of the Ukrainian side."
"And it is a shame for me to state that these overheated and over-hyped expectations were also retransmitted to Ukrainian society, to the Ukrainian state and can now, let's say, cause some disappointment," the MP said.
At the same time, she said politicians who understand the processes a little more deeply did not expect any breakthrough new promises from the U.S. presidential administration.
In addition, Klympush-Tsintsadze expressed regret that Ukraine found itself in the center of a hurricane of an election scandal during Zelenskyy's visit to the United States.
"We understand that this topic will now continue to be actively used by Republican colleagues as part of this election campaign until at least November 5 [the day of the U.S. presidential election]. And, of course, this is a very serious lesson for the president's team... When such a polarized, political election campaign is underway in the country of our most important strategic partner, then we need to blow on the cold and think three times about how appropriate it is to add additional elements to the president's stay program in a specific period of time... It is good that the meeting with Trump took place, but we have an additional crack in relations with the Republicans, which will inflate during the election campaign," the head of the parliamentary committee believes.