Zelensky says that if Ukraine is defeated, he will launch a guerrilla war against Russia

Volodimir Zelensky and Joe Biden met this Tuesday in a meeting marked not so much by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but by the blocking of military aid to that country by the US Republican opposition.. With less than a hundred hours until the US Congress suspends its sessions for Christmas, US weapons deliveries to kyiv are about to end right in the middle of winter and while Russia continues its offensive in Eastern Ukraine. Not giving aid would be “a Christmas gift” for the Kremlin, Biden said after the meeting. But everything indicates that that is what is going to happen.. Although the US president announced $200 million more in weapons for kyiv at the beginning of the meeting, Washington is literally scraping the bottom of the barrel of aid for Ukraine approved a year ago..

For the moment, the only thing Washington can do is deliver more information obtained by its spy services to kyiv and, in the longer term, strengthen industrial cooperation between both countries so that Ukraine has more autonomy to manufacture its own weapons.. For this reason, Zelensky met with Biden accompanied, among others, by his Minister of Strategic Industries, Alexander Kamyshin.. On the American side, in addition to Biden, the two architects of US foreign and security policy participated, the Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, and the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan.. Another possibility is that Biden uses his powers as president, but that solution would be politically very controversial, given that about half of the American public believes that Ukraine is receiving too much support.

In the short term, what counts are the weapons. And it seems impossible that they will arrive before, hopefully, mid-January. By then, it may be too late for Ukraine to maintain current front lines.. For this reason, according to the Washington Post, Zelensky issued a warning: if Ukraine is defeated in a conventional war by Russia, it will resort to guerrilla warfare.

It is a promise and a warning, because the US knows that guerrillas are, by definition, more difficult to control than conventional armies subject to the authority of a government.. Washington is also aware that there are NATO allies — such as Poland and the Baltics — who would most likely support a partisan movement in Ukraine, regardless of what the US says.. A guerrilla war would ultimately increase the possibility that NATO would become embroiled in the conflict.

That was one of Zelensky's messages in his meetings with the president of the House of Representatives, the 'Trumpist' Mike Johnson, who is one of the main people responsible for the paralysis of aid, and with several senators.. The Ukrainian president also addressed the Senate, where the Republicans have also blocked aid but are more flexible. Zelensky insisted that the idea of a negotiation to end the conflict, suggested by some Republicans, is not realistic, and summed it up in one sentence: “Putin does not need to negotiate.”. To date, Moscow continues to demand the same thing as a year ago: a neutral and demilitarized Ukraine, which would turn that country into a puppet similar to Belarus for a neighbor like Russia, with 5,000 atomic bombs on the other side of the border.

But Zelensky did not convince the Republicans, who with each passing day lean more in the direction of the isolationism that their party renounced in the 1940s, although an appreciable part of their base sympathizes with Vladimir Putin.. Officially, the Republican Party demands a tougher fight against illegal immigration, something that is impossible for Democrats to accept, especially in an election year and with an unpopular president running for reelection like Joe Biden.

No one publicly confronted Zelensky. In fact, Johnson said that “we stand with Ukraine and against Putin's brutal invasion,” although he called for a clear strategy from the Biden Government on the war beyond helping Ukraine defend itself.. But, no one from the opposition changed their mind after the visit either.. As Republican Senator Roger Wicker said, “both parties are going to have to negotiate very seriously and stop reaffirming their positions over and over again.” By the time they reach an agreement, it could be too late for Ukraine.