Zelenskyj arrives in Washington for NATO summit – support for Ukraine’s war effort is high on the agenda

(CNN) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington DC as the NATO summit was getting ready to kick off with key issues. At the top of the agenda is long-term support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

The Ukrainian president will seek to bolster allies’ support for his country, meet with President Joe Biden and deliver a key speech on the sidelines of the summit. The US has promised “significant” announcements on Ukraine at the three-day global meeting that begins on Tuesday.

Kyiv will push for “decisive action” from the United States and Europe at the summit, Zelensky said on Tuesday in his first remarks since arriving in the US capital.

“We are fighting for the necessary decisive action by America and Europe – something that will strengthen our soldiers,” Zelensky said. “We are doing and will always do everything to defeat Russian terror. And not only our country needs this – everyone needs it, literally every partner, all nations.”

Zelensky said Ukraine would fight for more air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets and additional security guarantees, “including weapons, finance and political support.”

NATO members have made it clear that Ukraine will be at the centre of the summit.

“Priority one, two and three is Ukraine,” said a European diplomat.

But the question is whether these expressions of support will be enough as the war drags on and there are few signs of a quick diplomatic or military victory for Kyiv. Concerns about the future of NATO should Donald Trump win the presidential election in November are also a major issue for many participants who were not particularly reassured by Biden’s disastrous performance at the CNN debate.

Zelensky landed in the US capital on Monday evening, just as deadly Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine were taking place earlier that day. The barrage of missiles hit buildings across the country, including Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, killing more than three dozen people.

Ukrainian officials said the timing of Moscow’s attack – a day before the summit began – was calculated. It was “a greeting from Putin to all NATO countries … mocking us for trying to follow red lines,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.

They also said the attack underscored the need for continued military support for Ukraine – and the ability to use those weapons against targets deep inside Russian territory.

“This attack, this attack on Ukraine’s future – because children are our future – must not go unanswered,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday in a speech alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “I look forward to our discussion on how we can further strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities.”

“Russian terrorists must be held accountable. Mere concern will not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon. We must shoot down Russian missiles. Russian fighter jets must be destroyed at their base. Strong steps must be taken to eliminate any security deficit,” Zelensky posted on X on Monday. “The world has the strength to do this. Our partners are capable of implementing this. Decisions must be made as soon as possible.”

The Biden administration recently changed its policy to allow the use of U.S. weapons in attacks on Russian territory, where Russian forces are conducting cross-border attacks into Ukraine. However, Ukrainian officials want to expand this policy further and allow attacks on Russian military targets anywhere on Russian territory.

“We want the lifting of any restrictions on the weapons that Ukraine receives,” Stefanchuk said at an event in Washington on Monday. We want “a stable and predictable supply of these weapons,” ammunition and the ability to effectively counter “the threats from the air” – meaning F-16 fighter jets. A senior National Security Council official announced on Monday an upcoming “announcement on air defense” and “an announcement on F-16s.”

“We don’t want to wait for another sanctions package like an iPhone package,” he said, noting that they only need one type of sanctions: sanctions that “make Russia feel the economic consequences of this war.”

In addition, Ukraine wants clear progress towards NATO membership.

The issue had led to a diplomatic dispute in the run-up to the summit in Vilnius last year. Zelensky fumed that it was “unprecedented and absurd” that “no time frame had been set for either the invitation or for Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”

This year, according to government officials, there was significantly more communication with the Ukrainians in the run-up to the summit. The European diplomat said there had been “deep and open discussions” with Ukrainian politicians. Presidential adviser Andriy Yermak was in Washington last week, among other things to work on the agreements for the summit.

As CNN reported on Monday, Ukraine’s path to NATO was described as “irreversible” in a draft of the alliance’s joint communiqué, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

A senior Biden administration official said Friday that what they have outlined “is quite extensive in terms of the bridge to membership and the benefits that NATO will provide for Ukraine.”

“We’re not talking about some plan of how they get from here to there. We’re talking about setting up a complete command in Wiesbaden and we’re going to look at how we handle the various things that I mentioned earlier – training, coordination, equipment, coordination, logistics, force development. This is a very serious attempt to put Ukraine, as I said earlier, in a position where it’s ready to assume its roles and responsibilities within the alliance from day one,” the official said.

“I’ll let the Ukrainians speak for themselves, but I think they understand the value of what NATO will do for this,” they said.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Maria Kostenko and Radina Gigova contributed to this report.