President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine declared on Friday that Ukraine was “working toward victory,” buoyed by his hero’s welcome in Washington and a brief visit to Poland in a sprint of diplomacy aimed at thanking his country’s most robust allies and cementing their support.
Mr. Zelensky was back in Kyiv after his trip, which has boosted morale in a country where millions have been plunged into darkness and cold from Russian missile strikes that have knocked out power as winter sets in.
“I am in my office,” he said in a video posted to his channel on the Telegram social media app early Friday. “We are working toward victory.”
Western allies have pumped aid into Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, and the United States House gave final approval later Friday to nearly $50 billion in assistance to Ukraine.
On Friday, Mr. Zelensky specifically thanked the Netherlands for a promise of 2.5 billion euros, or about $2.7 billion. “We keep working together to increase defense capability, energy stability & restore critical infrastructure,” he posted on Twitter.
In a brief evening address on Thursday while en route home, he expressed satisfaction with his landmark visit to Washington, insisting that it had heeded “good results” that “will really help” with Ukraine’s ongoing war effort.
Before returning to Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky stopped off in Poland, where he met for two hours with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, near the airport in the southeastern city of Rzeszow, a major transit point for Western weapons flowing into neighboring Ukraine and for refugees fleeing Ukraine into Poland.
The location of the meeting, held one day after Mr. Zelensky met Mr. Biden at the White House, was kept secret for security reasons. Video of his arrival at the Rzeszow airport showed Mr. Zelensky bounding down the steps of his plane dressed in green cargo pants, heavy boots and a military-style winter jacket.
Mr. Duda, in a message posted on Twitter, said that the two leaders had discussed “strategic plans for actions and cooperation in the upcoming 2023,” reaffirming Poland’s strong support for Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s military.
Today’s meeting with the President of Ukraine @ZelenskyyUa was not only a great opportunity to send Christmas and New Year wishes to him, his Family and Ukraine, but also gave me an opportunity to discuss strategic plans for actions and cooperation in the upcoming 2023. 🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/CfKtkChmU1
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) December 22, 2022
After weeks of a stalemate along much of the front, Mr. Zelensky’s high-profile visit to Washington was greeted in Ukraine mostly with pride and hope that the president’s impassioned in-person appeals would keep American weapons and financial support flowing.
Dmitri S. Peskov, President Vladimir V. Putin’s spokesman, said — as the Kremlin has argued before — that the trip showcased the United States’ commitment to fighting Russia “to the last Ukrainian.”
Although Mr. Zelensky’s visit to Washington ended with promises of billions more in U.S. support, it did not fulfill some of the more critical requests on his weapons wish list: American battle tanks, fighter jets and long-range precision missiles.
