Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Eli | Email Lauren PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off next week for the holidays but back to our normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 3. We hope absence makes the heart grow fonder. Ukranians awoke Wednesday morning just as shocked as Americans to learn their president, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, was leaving the country for the first time since the Russian invasion to visit Washington and meet with President JOE BIDEN. Zelenskyy made the trek with a primary audience in mind: He would address lawmakers in the U.S. Congress in addition to Biden. But there was a secondary audience at play, too — a population back home that recognizes the country's future is tied to the diplomatic lines supporting its military successes. “This visit is about getting help to stop a genocide. It will get media coverage and when the media writes about us, it helps,” MAKSYM ZALEVSKYI, a 45-year-old humanitarian worker in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, told West Wing Playbook. Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. offered a sense of hope to Zalevskyi and other Ukrainians living amid rolling electrical and internet blackouts and constant air raid sirens. It meant potentially more assistance to help bolster the country’s war efforts and buoy the faltering economy through what is expected to be a grueling winter. “Politics in America depends on Americans, and if this visit helps Americans better understand our situation in Ukraine, then I think it could help Biden be able to give us more,” Zalevskyi said. “Everyone here knows about the visit, we’re paying attention. It’s an important moment that’s all about hope — hope for protection.” Other Ukrainians who spoke with West Wing Playbook said they wanted Zelenskyy’s visit to help refocus American media and political attention on the devastating impact of the war, and push Congress — particularly those Republicans who have soured on providing assistance — to recommit their support. “ Everybody in Ukraine understands that without American support, this would be much harder and the situation on the front would be much worse. But everybody wants more — more aviation, more technical support, more rockets that can reach even Russian territory,” said SERGII KOSTEZH, a journalist based in Kyiv. Kostezh expressed hope that Zelenskyy’s meetings in D.C. would “provide something systematic, meaning a stronger weapons support system. We have to know what we will get going into March, April, May, June, July, so that we can plan new operations on the frontline.” He added that “our ministry of defense has to be able to plan not for a few days, but for the next month.” But others in the war-torn country said the outcome they wanted from the Zelenskyy trip was something larger than weapons acquisitions. MARIIA VOVK, 24, of Kharkiv, said she wanted Americans to see the war in Ukraine as an emblem for the future of democratic institutions. “I hope people keep in mind during this visit that Ukraine is a shield for the whole west. Do not forget that we’re fighting for freedom not just for us, but for everyone. The politicians should recognize that,” she said. “There are more and more powerful air strikes, we’re worried that Belarus is going to become an active enemy, and people are on edge,” said Vovk, who spoke to West Wing Playbook from Poland, where she’s been working remotely for a marketing company. “We don’t know what Zelenskyy’s visit will result in, but it’s a good sign. It will cheer people up, boost spirits, give us hope — and we need that right now.” During their press conference together this afternoon, Biden and Zelenskyy put on a stern but optimistic face, decrying Russia’s invasion, playing up the solidarity of NATO and stressing that the aid pipeline would not dry up. But the visit, nevertheless, still serves as a somber reminder for Ukrainians of their country’s dependence on the shifting winds of American politics. “People here understand the politics in the U.S.. We’re reading the news and we’re worried that politics towards Ukraine will change,” said ALINA SUGONIAKO, 34, of Kyiv. “We all know that prices are high in the U.S. and we understand, but we’re worrying about our people on the frontlines and in occupied territories.” Despite all the recent advancements by the Ukrainian military, Sugoniako provided a stark reminder: “I don’t like to say it outloud, but Ukraine can fall. And America and the world need to know that we would not be the last one.” MESSAGE US — Are you accompanying President Zelenskyy on his trip to D.C.? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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