President Joe Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday as the United States clashed with Kiev and the Kremlin over the supply of US weapons.
Biden issued a first public apology for the months-long delay in U.S. military aid that Russia has exploited to make crucial progress on the battlefield. He also announced a new $225 million package of weapons, including air defense interceptors, artillery ammunition and other crucial capabilities.
“I assure you that the United States will support you,” Biden told Zelensky. “We are still here, fully,” he added.
The meeting in the French capital comes as Kiev’s military is under pressure from a new Russian offensive in the north and intense attacks in the east. A dangerous moment when the allies allowed Ukraine to carry out several attacks in Russia using Western weapons.
It also follows events marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, where Zelenskyy attended and where Biden drew parallels between that crucial battle to liberate Europe from Nazi rule and Ukraine’s current struggle against Russia .
Biden and Zelenzkyy met at the White House in December, when the Ukrainian leader came to lobby Congress to approve new military aid for his struggling frontline troops. But Kiev has grown frustrated with the pace of military aid and continued restrictions on the use of the weapons it once received.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting the two leaders, gave Kiev his own boost on Thursday.
France will provide its Mirage fighter jets and train a brigade of Ukrainian soldiers, he announced, although details were not immediately clear.
Tensions between Kiev’s allies and Moscow are at an all-time high following the decision to allow Ukraine limited use of Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets within Russia’s border areas.
Despite this shift, Kiev’s forces remain outnumbered and have fewer weapons, and Zelensky is pushing for more.
He has already said that the limited easing of restrictions is not enough as Ukraine is eager to use other Western long-range weapons to penetrate deeper into enemy territory.
However, the new support for Ukraine has angered the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that he could deploy weapons in countries that could attack the West in response, saying Washington and its partners were wrong to assume he would never use nuclear weapons.
Putin will speak later Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he is likely to discuss the same topics.
Its forces have become stranded in the Kharkov border area after launching a new attack last month, further stretching the Ukrainian military’s limited resources. Despite Russia claiming a number of villages in the first weeks of the offensive, Kiev appears to have managed to slow the advance.
Zelenskyy told Biden on Friday that US decisions have had “a very positive impact” in the region.
Biden indicated in an interview on Thursday that Washington remains cautious and emphasized that Kiev still cannot use American weapons to attack deep into Russia, for example Moscow or the Kremlin itself.
But he nevertheless offered his rhetorical support to Kiev’s cause, drawing a direct link to the Allied struggle against Adolf Hitler.
During the D-Day ceremony at the American Cemetery in Normandy earlier Thursday, Biden called Putin “a tyrant bent on domination.”
“We will not run away,” he said, speaking of American support for Europe’s current struggle in front of World War II veterans. “Because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated.”
Biden will give another speech on Friday, following former President Ronald Reagan with a speech on democracy and freedom at Pointe du Hoc – the cliffs in Normandy that divide the beaches where US troops landed on D-Day.
Biden was not the only American to draw parallels between Ukraine’s struggle and World War II.
Zelenskyy shared a touching moment with a US veteran on Thursday, with the two embracing and exchanging words of gratitude.
“You are the savior of the people,” the veteran said. Zelenskyy replied: “No, you saved Europe.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
