Ambassador Markarova shares details of Zelensky-Biden meeting in Washington

In addition to discussing the actual situation on the battlefield and Ukraine’s urgent needs to bring victory closer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United States President Joseph Biden reached a practical agreement on joint arms production, following their meeting in Washington.

The relevant statement was made by Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova in an exclusive interview with Ukrinform.

“The presidents discussed aid to Ukraine, the development of the situation on the battlefield – not only the capabilities we need and where to find them, but also, probably most importantly, a historic decision was reached on the joint production of weapons,” Markarova told.

The Ukrainian ambassador emphasized that these agreements were practical: “Not just ‘someday’ or ‘potentially’, but the presidents discussed and reached agreements, on the implementation of which the teams of both countries are currently working.”

According to Markarova, it is a new format of defense production cooperation in Ukraine. She outlined the key areas that will be developed by the two countries, noting that they are related to all defense technologies, including air defenses.

“Today, we are receiving many capabilities from the United States, which are produced by American companies – from artillery to a whole range of equipment, vehicles, other types of weapons and air defense systems. Hence, everything that we can work out with companies for production in Ukraine will be supported at the level of the two states and is currently being developed precisely as a joint program,” Markarova explained.

The ambassador called the visit by the President of Ukraine to the United States ‘very successful’, considering the results of bilateral meetings in New York and Washington.

Separately, Markarova spoke of the details of President Zelensky’s meeting with the representatives of the United States Congress.

“Now it was extremely important to speak frankly, behind closed doors, with the leaders and members of both parties and chambers. The United States, as you know, has entered an active phase of the pre-election process, and that certainly affects many things,” Markarova noted.

She emphasized that maintaining strong bipartisan support is essential to Ukraine.

“Hence, meetings at the Congress and our work in general were aimed at this,” Markarova added.

A reminder that, on October 2, 2023, the White House announced that the Biden administration is working on a new aid package for Ukraine.