Zelenskiy’s US visit to counter emerging opposition to support for Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskiy will use Biden invitation to bolster alliance as some in US criticise huge aid packages for Ukraine war

A few months ago Volodymyr Zelenskiy's aides were adamant. The president would not go abroad until Russia was defeated. In the days after Vladimir Putin's February invasion, as Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv, Zelenskiy refused to flee. He turned down offers of assistance and told his citizens: I'm here". He also famously declared: I need ammunition, not a ride."

On Wednesday, however, Zelenskiy was riding to Washington by plane at the personal invitation of President Joe Biden. It is his first foreign trip since Russia's full-scale attack. It comes at a pivotal moment: on the battlefield, where Russian and Ukrainian troops are locked in a grinding face-off, and in the politically rancorous halls of the US Congress.