Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to kick off his U.S. visit on September 22 with a stop at a Pennsylvania factory producing key munitions for his country's fight against Russia’s invading forces.
Two U.S. officials told AP that Zelenskiy will tour the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant as he begins a crucial journey that will also see him address the UN General Assembly in New York on September 24 and meet separately at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on September 26.
The Ukrainian presidency announced separately that Zelenskiy also will meet former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican party's presidential nominee in the November election against Harris.
Zelenskiy is looking to shore up global support for Kyiv's battle against Russia and to gain permission -- particularly from the United States and Britain -- to use Western-suppled weapons deeper inside Russia to help prevent the Kremlin’s forces from launching attacks on Ukrainian civilian and military sites.
He plans to present Biden his “victory plan,” which includes requests for long-range strike capabilities and other weapons and would stand as the basis for any future talks with the Kremlin.
“This will be the start and foundation for talking in any format with Russia -- in any format, with any of its representatives -- because there will be a plan and something to show," Zelenskiy told a briefing on September 20.
Zelenskiy’s first stop will be the city of Scranton -- Biden’s birthplace -- to tour an ammunition plant manufacturing 155 mm artillery shells used in howitzer systems that can strike from up to 32 kilometers away, allowing troops to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.
The United States has so far provided Kyiv with more than 3 million of the shells and has fired up to 8,000 of them a day.
Top Pentagon officials and Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro are expected to meet Zelenskiy at the plant.
