Volodymyr Zelensky’s crucial do-or-die week in America

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ZELENSKY: VICTORY PLAN ‘FULLY PREPARED’: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is about to embark on a visit to the United States next week that could very well determine the future course of its war with Russia, which began in February 2022.

Zelensky and his top military commanders have prepared a detailed strategy for the next phase of the war. This strategy is designed to show that, despite Russia’s advantage in missiles and manpower, Ukraine can, if properly equipped and fully supported, force Russian President Vladimir Putin to give up most of his revanchist goals to hold on to 20% of Ukraine’s territory.

“Our Plan for Victory is fully prepared,” Zelensky said in a video address on Wednesday. “All points, all key emphases, the necessary appendices with details to the plan have been identified. Everything has been worked out. The most important thing now is the determination to implement it.”

“The president of Ukraine will address the U.N. General Assembly, meet with representatives of American defense and energy companies, and the Ukrainian community,” Zelensky’s office said in a statement. “The head of state will hold bilateral negotiations with leaders of countries and international organizations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.”

BIDEN, HARRIS, AND TRUMP TO BE BRIEFED: Zelensky intends to personally brief the decision-makers who hold the fate of his country in their hands, including members of Congress, President Joe Biden, and presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

“Next Thursday, President [Joe] Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris will separately meet with President Zelensky of Ukraine at the White House,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at yesterday’s briefing. “They will discuss U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression and Ukraine’s strategic planning.”

“I’m looking forward to hosting my friend President Zelensky of Ukraine next week at the White House,” Biden posted on the social media platform X. “During his visit, I’ll reaffirm America’s commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends its freedom and independence.” What Biden didn’t say was whether he would relax his restrictions on using U.S.-supplied long-range weapons, which Zelensky noted was an essential element of his plan to turn the tide of battle.

Zelensky’s office also expects to meet with former President Donald Trump, who has been cheered in Moscow for promising, if elected, to bring the war in Ukraine to a quick conclusion even before he takes office.

“I had a phone call with Donald Trump, and he said that he’s very supportive, and we had a good conversation,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria this past Sunday, referring to a conversation from two months ago. “He understands how it’s difficult to survive during the war, and he will do everything to strengthen Ukraine. So I don’t know. I mean, that’s great that it sounds this way, but that’s why I wanted to share this plan to hear his reaction.”

Asked specifically about Trump’s pledge to end the war as soon as he’s elected, Zelensky said, “Election messages are election messages. Sometimes they are not very real.”

UKRAINE’S FUTURE HANGS IN THE BALANCE: Zelensky’s victory plan tour comes as Ukraine is reeling from the unrelenting onslaught of Russian glide bombs and missiles, such as the one that hit a geriatric nursing home this week and destroyed Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital in July. “All our energy infrastructure, they destroyed 80 percent by these guided bombs, 80 percent,” Zelensky told CNN.

“Right now, ahead of the winter season and during this particularly significant autumn, we have many issues that critically affect Ukraine and the lives of our people,” Zelensky said in a video address Thursday. “Of course, energy is an urgent priority.”

But Ukraine has also had some notable recent successes that Zelensky hopes will demonstrate that his military is capable of seizing the initiative and deliver demoralizing blows to Russia, including a devastating drone strike that destroyed one of Russia’s largest ammunition depots, and its offensive in the Kursk region of Russia, in which thousands of Russian troops have been surrounded, and hundreds captured.

Zelensky claims the Kursk operation has achieved its main goal of taking some of the pressure off its eastern front, where he says “heavy fighting daily in the Kurakhove and Pokrovsk” area is “extremely challenging.”

“The Ukrainian Defense Forces have now managed to reduce the assault capabilities of the occupiers in the Donetsk region,” Zelesnky said, because Russia has been forced to redeploy some of its best troops to try to retake Kursk. “We have already managed to divert around 40,000 Russian troops to this area.”

“Our active operations continue. The ‘exchange fund’ is also being replenished for us, for Ukraine. All these are important factors influencing the overall situation in the war,” he said.

UKRAINE IS ON A TRAJECTORY TO LOSE ITS WAR WITH RUSSIA

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.

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HAPPENING TODAY: This morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. will host a National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony on the Pentagon’s River Terrace Parade Field. In addition to speeches, the ceremony will feature a flyover of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in missing man formation.

The National POW/MIA Recognition Day honors Americans who were prisoners of war and those who served and never returned home. In a proclamation, President Joe Biden called on all Americans “to reflect on today and let us not forget those heroes who never returned home from the battlefields around the world or their families who are still waiting for answers.”

“Today, more than 81,000 of these brave men and women remain missing and unaccounted for around the world. They will never be forgotten, and their courage, service, and sacrifice will always be cherished by our grateful nation,” Biden said.

The Pentagon ceremony will be livestreamed on Defense.gov at 10 a.m.

ISRAEL BOMBS HEZBOLLAH AFTER ‘GRIM BEEPER’ ATTACKS: Israel warplanes hit Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, including about 100 rocket launchers, overnight in one of the heaviest bombardments this year. The Israel Defense Forces said the airstrikes were a preemptive action conducted in self-defense.

“Hezbollah was preparing to launch an extensive rocket and missile attack against central and northern Israel, with thousands of rocket launcher barrels in over 40 launch areas aimed at the Israeli home front,” the IDF said in a statement. “In an act of self-defense to remove these threats, the IDF struck terrorist targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks.”

“During the strike, about 230 launches and 20 aerial targets were identified crossing into Israeli territory,” the statement said. “Ninety percent of the launchers were from the heart of a civilian area, near civilian facilities such as mosques, schools, U.N. sites, etc.”

The attack came as Hezbollah vowed a “just retribution and a bitter reckoning” for the mass explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies that have killed at least 37 Hezbollah members and maimed thousands more over the past few days, and as Israel’s defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war.

“We will return the residents of the north securely to their homes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday.

HEZBOLLAH LEADER SAYS PAGER ATTACKS CROSSED RED LINES: ‘AN ACT OF WAR’

TALKING TO TRUMP?: As Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) regroups after his failed first effort to get a temporary funding measure through the House, he has reportedly spoken to Trump about his call to let the government shut down at the end of the month if the stopgap measure known as a CR, or continuing resolution, doesn’t include a Republican provision that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

“Johnson told House Republican leadership colleagues that he’s talking to former President Donald Trump about his call to shut down the federal government and what options GOP lawmakers have right now as the funding deadline approaches,” Punchbowl News reported, citing “multiple sources familiar with the meeting.”

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor yesterday to lambaste the speaker and offer an alternative approach to avert a shutdown in just ten days.

“To the surprise of virtually no one, Speaker Johnson’s deeply flawed and highly partisan CR failed by a vote of 202-220,” Schumer said. “The ‘no’ votes included Democrats, Republicans, fiscal hawks, conservative ideologues, and people in between. In other words, there was broad opposition to the speaker’s partisan maneuver. It’s time the speaker moves on.”

“I will file cloture on a legislative vehicle that will enable us to prevent a Trump shutdown in the event Speaker Johnson does not work with us in a bipartisan, bicameral manner,” Schumer said. “The speaker must choose: either keep paying blind obeisance to Donald Trump and his ridiculous claims, or work with both parties to spare the American people from a Republican shutdown.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

THE RUNDOWN:

Washington Examiner: Ukraine is on a trajectory to lose its war with Russia

Washington Examiner: Senate passes $3 billion VA spending patch, addressing urgent budget shortfall

Washington Examiner: Hezbollah leader says pager attacks crossed red lines: ‘An act of war’

Washington Examiner: Israel says it thwarted Iranian assassination plot

Washington Examiner: Now paging: Hezbollah terrorists

Washington Examiner: Biden to continue border clamp down through election, White House suggests

Washington Examiner: MS-13 are ‘Boy Scouts’ compared to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua: Congressman

Washington Examiner: Mike Pompeo predicts Iran will ‘double down’ on election interference efforts

Washington Examiner: Republicans’ lawyers guard against a repeat of Trump’s stolen election claims

Washington Examiner: Opinion: The national security fallout of abandoning Africa

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Neither Trump nor Harris offers strong visions for US foreign policy

Washington Post: Israel’s clash with Hezbollah strains U.S. effort to prevent wider war

AP: US warplanes, ships and troops ready in the Middle East if the conflict expands

Reuters: U.S. Says No Change To Its Military Posture In Middle East Amid Attacks In Lebanon

NBC News: Iran Is Helping The Houthi Rebels In Yemen Target And Down U.S. Reaper Drones, U.S. Officials Say

AP: Harris hopes to turn Ukraine war into winning issue in battle with Trump for Polish American votes

AP: Congress scrambles to ensure safety of presidential candidates in final weeks of campaign

Washington Post: Secret Service seeks funding boost to address dangerous ‘new reality’

Stars and Stripes: Army won’t say if anyone was punished for training that labeled anti-abortion, animal rights groups terrorists

Defense One: Air Force Braces for New Nuclear-War Scenarios

National Defense Magazine: Navy’s New Navigation Plan Seeks Robots To Counter China

Bloomberg: New US Submarines Running $17 Billion Over Budget, Lawmaker Says

Inside Defense: Senate Policy Bill Wants New DOD Center of Excellence for AI Weapons

Breaking Defense: Space Systems Command Head’s ‘Action Plan’ to Focus on Command Structure, Outreach

New York Times: Europe’s New Defense Chief: ‘A King Without a Kingdom’?

Air & Space Forces Magazine: PACAF Looks to Australia, Japan for Battle Management Help as It Waits for Wedgetail

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lockheed Quietly Delivered 1,000th F-35 in July; Clearing Full Backlog May Take 18 Months

The War Zone: AC-130J Ghostrider Gunships Will Keep Their 105mm Howitzers, for Now

Air Force Times: Air Force’s Information Warfare Hub Seeks High-Tech Sensors, AI Tools

Air & Space Forces Magazine: ‘Sensing Has Become Ubiquitous’: Satellite Imagery in Ukraine Offers View of Future Warfare

SpaceNews: Navigating Space: Space Force Explores Nontraditional Solutions to Increase Surveillance

DefenseScoop: New Warrant Officers Poised to Improve Readiness of Air Force Cyber Mission Force Teams

Military.com: Ellsworth Air Force Base Fires Second Commander in Just 2 Months

THE CALENDAR:

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 20

8:30 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “Confronting the Axis of Upheaval,” with House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA); Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA), vice chairman, House Armed Services Committee; and Jonathan Lord, senior fellow and director of the CNAS Middle East Security Program https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event-confronting-the-axis-of-upheaval’

9:30 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “The Future of U.S. and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs,” with Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO); Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE); Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ); Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA); retired Air Force Gen. Heather Pringle; former Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld; former Assistant Defense Secretary for Space Policy John Plumb; and Mike White, former principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Defense Secretary https://www.hudson.org/events/future-american-hypersonic-missile-program

10 a.m. Pentagon Parade Field — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. make remarks at the National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 24

10 a.m. — Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “Ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. U.S. http://judiciary.senate.gov

10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “An Assessment of the State Department’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan by America’s Top Diplomat,” with testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken http://foreignaffairs.house.gov

10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing: “Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare, Part III,” with testimony from Bradley Thayer, founding member on the Committee on Present Danger: China; Joseph Cella, former U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuval, and co-founder and director of the citizen-led Michigan China Economic Security and Review Group; and Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation http://oversight.house.gov

10 a.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations Committee East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy Subcommittee hearing: “Cyberspace Under Threat in the Era of Rising Authoritarianism and Global Competition,” with testimony from Laura Cunningham, president of the Open Technology Fund, Washington, D.C.; David Kaye, clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, Irvine, Calif.; and Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute, Arlington, Va. http://foreign.senate.gov

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 25

2 p.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing: “The Border Crisis: The Cost of Chaos,” with testimony from Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies; and Chris Clem, former chief patrol agent for the Yuma Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol http://oversight.house.gov

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 26

8:30 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “Defense Innovation and the New Cold War,” with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK); Joe Londsdale, cofounder, Palantir Technologies; Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer, Palantir Technologies; Nadia Schadlow, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Richard Berger, budget director, Senate Armed Services Committee; Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow and director, Keystone Defense Initiative, Hudson Institute; and Morgan Ortagus, founder, Polaris National Security and former State Department spokesperson https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defense-innovation-and-the-new-cold-war

9:15 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “Preserving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” with Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Hudson Japan Chair Kenneth Weinstein https://www.eventbrite.com/e/preserving-a-free-and-open-indo-pacific

9:30 a.m. — American Enterprise Institute virtual discussion: “China’s Comprehensive Threat to American Security,” with Robert O’Brien, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump; Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Robert Doar, president, American Enterprise Institute https://www.aei.org/events/chinas-comprehensive-threat-to-american-security

10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee hearing: “Foreign Policy, Interrupted: How Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Blunt America’s Impact Abroad,” with testimony from Cardell Richardson, State Department inspector general; Paul Martin, U.S. Agency for International Development inspector general; and Anthony Zakel, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation inspector general http://foreignaffairs.house.gov

WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 2 1 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution 2024 Knight Forum on Geopolitics, with Arati Prabhakar, director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Mara Karlin, visiting fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings; Jeffrey Feltman, John C. Whitehead visiting fellow in International Diplomacy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings; Samantha Gross, fellow and director, Energy, Security, and Climate Initiative, Brookings; Danielle Resnick, nonresident fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings; Valerie Wirtschafter, fellow, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, Brookings; Alexander Noyes, fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings; Fiona Hill, senior fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings; Colin Kahl, Sydney Stein, Jr. Scholar in Residence, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings; Lynn Kuok, fellow and Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asia Studies, Brookings; Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director, Foreign Policy, Brookings; Melanie Sisson, fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings; retired Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Marine Corps Commandant; and Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow, Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy, and director, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings https://connect.brookings.edu/register

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