Biden Apologizes to Zelensky

He says 'very conservative members' held up package of military aid to Ukraine
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 7, 2024 9:50 AM CDT
Biden Apologizes to Zelensky
Zelenskyy attends a military honor ceremony, Friday, June 7, 2024 at the Invalides monument in Paris.   (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Biden for America's support in his country's fight against Russia—and Biden apologized for the six-month delay to the latest military aid package. "I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what's going to pass in terms of funding because we had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass," he said during their meeting in Paris on Friday. "Some of our very conservative members were holding it up. But we got it done finally." Russia launched an offensive and gained territory in parts of Ukraine during the gap in funding from the US, the Hill reports.

  • "We're not going to walk away." "We're still in," Biden told Zelensky. "Completely. Thoroughly." He added: "You haven't bowed down. You haven't yielded at all. You've continued to fight in a way that's really remarkable," per the Washington Post. "We're not going to walk away from you."

  • Zelensky pleads for WWII-style unity. Zelensky thanked US lawmakers for passing the aid package and called for unity, the AP reports. "It's very important that in this unity, United States of America, all American people stay with Ukraine like it was during World War II," he said. "How the United States helped to save human lives, to save Europe. And we count on your continuing support in standing with us shoulder to shoulder."
  • Pointe du Hoc speech. Biden drew a parallel to Ukraine in remarks at a D-Day commemoration ceremony Thursday. He will make another speech in Normandy on Friday, at Pointe du Hoc, where Army Rangers scaled 100-foot cliffs on D-Day, the New York Times reports. Ronald Reagan delivered what was considered one of his most powerful speeches at the same spot 40 years ago. He praised the "boys of Pointe du Hoc" as the "champions who helped free a continent." In remarks Biden is expected to echo on Friday, Reagan denounced isolationism, saying it "never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent."
(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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