Zelensky defiant ahead of US visit, vows to retake all seized territory

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a defiant tone ahead of his visit to the United States on Wednesday, reiterating promises to retake all seized Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.

“We will do everything possible and impossible, expected and unexpected, so that our heroes have everything they need to prevail. To get the results that all Ukrainians expect,” Zelensky said in his nightly address to the Ukrainian people on Tuesday night. 

“This is our Luhansk region, this is our south of Ukraine, this is our Crimea,” he added. “Ukraine will leave nothing of its own to the enemy.”

Zelensky is set to meet with President Biden at the White House on Wednesday, as Ukraine’s war with Russia nears the 10-month mark. Biden is expected to announce an additional $2 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, including the Patriot missile system.

The Ukrainian president will also address Congress on Wednesday night. The unprecedented visit comes as Republicans are set to take control of the House in the new year, with promises to rein in the federal government’s spending on Ukraine.

However, Congress unveiled a massive omnibus spending bill on Tuesday that included $45 billion related to the war, exceeding the White House’s proposal of $38 billion.

Zelensky has previously vowed to retake all seized Ukrainian territory, including the four regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin laid claim to earlier this year and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. 

“We will definitely liberate Crimea,” Zelensky said in an address in late October.

A Biden administration official reportedly told several members of Congress at a November meeting that Ukraine now has the capability to retake the peninsula, NBC News reported last week. 

However, retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Hill in an interview that it is unlikely Ukrainians will be able to launch an offensive to capture Crimea in the near term, with Russians occupying between 30 to 40 miles of territory in front of the peninsula.

While Crimea is connected to Ukraine through a narrow land border, Russia essentially has control of the Black Sea and still operates a major bridge transiting mainland Russia to the peninsula.

“It’s going to be very hard to take, and it’s far behind Russian lines; it’s way too early to be talking about Crimea,” Cancian said.

Laura Kelly contributed.