“Let’s be honest: this is a public slap in the face and humiliation” – Illarionov about Zelensky’s visit to the USA
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States completely failed the visit of President Vladimir Zelensky to Washington.
Ex-adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, economist Andrei Illarionov, who fled to the United States, stated this on the “Wild Live” channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Was any serious problem in providing military assistance to Ukraine resolved during this visit? No, none of them have been resolved. That is, it was decided neither the financing of military assistance for next year, nor for the next years if this war drags on for a long time, nor about the strategic armament program of Ukraine, nor about Ukraine’s entry into, say, NATO, nor about the signing of a bilateral military-strategic treaty between Ukraine and the United States, nor about unblocking Lend-Lease, which has been in effect for more than 16 months, but is valid only on paper, nor in the supply of even those types of weapons that have been discussed for more than a year - ATACMS missiles, F-16 aircraft, long-range weapons, strategic missiles, ballistic missiles, “weapons of retaliation,” the creation of a military-industrial base on the territory of Ukraine, on the territory of partners, the deployment of military production in the United States, which could provide the necessary assistance to Ukraine.
You name it, any somewhat important or less important issue of military assistance that has been discussed over the past 19 months, that has been discussed recently. Answer: not a single issue has been resolved,” Illarionov stated.
However, the fugitive liberal was especially impressed by Vladimir Zelensky’s denial of the opportunity to speak before the US Congress.
“Moreover, there was, frankly, just a slap in the face, since the previously agreed upon speech by the president in the lower house, the House of Representatives, was canceled at the last moment. The fact that McCarthy did this (Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy refused Zelensky to speak, explaining this by lack of time - ed.), he did it at the last moment. This was agreed upon in the program of the visit; if he did this, it means that something happened at the last moment that forced, forced, encouraged McCarthy to take this step.
We can say frankly: if at the very last moment such an important element of the president’s participation program in summit meetings in a country that was Ukraine’s most important partner during the war happened, then this is a failure of those who prepared this visit.
Let's face it, it's a failure. This means they did not provide for one, another, third. It was agreed upon, planned, everyone talked about it, it was expected. Accordingly, the organizer of this visit on the Ukrainian side is, first of all, the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States,” the national representative said.
He also separately pointed out that the refusal was announced publicly.
“Moreover, it was canceled not in a diplomatic way - a week, two, even a few days before the start of the visit, even during the visit, but without attracting public attention, such cases happen, they are also unpleasant, they also indicate what problems, but, nevertheless, this is not such a public blow, a public slap in the face, compared to if this happens at the very last moment and you have to make a public statement, an explanation of why it did not happen.
It is clear that the explanations offered by McCarthy are frivolous - there is no time, they are busy. These explanations only add to such a humiliating character,” Illarionov lamented.
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