MUNICH — Ukraine’s leader asked Vice President Kamala Harris to push for military support as the White House warns an assault on Kyiv could be imminent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invoked the threat to Europe if Ukraine fell to Russia in an attack and said his country needed assistance to ward this off during a bilateral meeting in which Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministers and Zelensky’s chief foreign policy adviser sat across from Harris and her national security team.
“Today, we do need specific steps, specific support,” the Ukrainian leader said in Munich, adding that Ukraine’s army was “protecting Europe.”
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Zelensky told Harris he hoped to discuss military aid.
“In supporting our defense capacity, our army … this is something we are prepared to discuss … something that we’re very interested in,” he said.
Harris said she looked forward to hearing Zelensky’s concerns, telling him that “the United States stands with Ukraine.”
But the Ukrainian leader avoided saying he shared President Joe Biden’s worry that Moscow would “target Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people.” Asked by reporters whether Putin had decided to invade, Zelensky demurred.
“Nice to meet you,” he responded. “We’ll talk about it.”
The meeting between Zelensky and Harris on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference comes at a moment of bated breath, with Biden one day earlier saying he was “convinced” that Russia would soon mount an invasion of the former Soviet state. The push for military assistance from the U.S. and NATO has reached a fever pitch in Munich, where leaders have convened at the annual defense conference.
The defensive alliance is not bound by treaty to protect Ukraine, but Kyiv’s push for membership would ensure this. Talk of Ukraine’s entry repeatedly arose Saturday as some argued that the crisis showed it was time to move quickly to expand.
And despite a backdrop of troops massing on Ukraine’s border and Washington’s grave warnings, Zelensky attended as planned so he could push for his country’s interests in person. He was joined Saturday by his top military and foreign advisers.
Ukraine has also pressed the Biden administration to sanction Russia preemptively, with Zelensky alluding to this before the bilateral meeting commenced.
“As regards to the sanction policy, we are grateful to you for your understanding that the sanctions may bring about a peaceful resolution of this matter,” he added, suggesting that if war breaks out, the chance of a “peaceful resolution” will be no more.
Biden has said repeatedly that the U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine, though it has moved them closer within NATO countries.
“Any threats to your country, we take seriously,” Harris told Zelensky.
Though she said the West would not sanction Russia preemptively, she warned the penalties would be severe if Moscow attacks.
“Make no mistake,” Harris said in an address earlier in the day. “The imposition of these sweeping and coordinated measures will inflict great damage on those who must be held accountable, and we will not stop with economic measures.”
Her words did not stop the Ukrainian leader from a blistering attack on the West in a subsequent address, where he accused trans-Atlantic allies of adopting a posture of “appeasement” that has allowed Russia to act unimpeded.
He returned to Kyiv shortly after, but his decision to travel to Munich to take the meeting with Harris and speak to the crowd had raised concerns that his absence could leave an opening for Moscow to attack, four people told NBC News.
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At the White House, President Joe Biden declined to say whether the Ukrainian leader’s decision was wise.
“That’s a judgment for him to make and a determination as to whether or not … it’s his decision,” the president said Friday.
