The White House has once again postponed a meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky.

This was announced by the press secretary of the head of Ukraine Serhiy Nikiforov.

Now, according to him, the summit is to take place on September 1.

"The Taliban ultimatum expires on August 31 * ... And the American side asked to postpone our visit by one day in this regard - and to devote this whole day to this important topic for the American side," Nikiforov told Interfax-Ukraine, noting that Kiev treats this "with absolute understanding", since "security issues always come first."

The change by the White House of the date of the Zelensky-Biden summit was previously reported by the media with reference to the schedule of the American leader.

In turn, the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, called the situation "absolutely transparent and easily explainable."

“For Ukraine, it is undoubtedly more convenient to hold a meeting of leaders in an informational atmosphere the next day, when it is Ukraine that will become the key newsmaker of the American agenda,” he said in an interview with RBC Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, said that Zelensky will be in Washington for two days - August 31 and September 1, and then he will travel to California.

At the same time, nothing is said about the postponement of the meeting in her message.

“Together with the team of the embassy and the presidential office, we have reached the home stretch for the preparation of a very eventful visit of the president to the United States,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Markarova also noted that the "main components" of the meeting between Zelensky and Biden "have already been planned and agreed upon by both parties."

She also reported on the upcoming talks of the Ukrainian leader "with the heads of ministries that are key for Ukrainian-American relations," as well as "two important public presentations from the president and the first lady for representatives of the media, the public and information and analytical centers."

“In addition, it is planned to open the Ukrainian House, as well as visit places in Washington, significant for relations between Ukraine and the United States,” added Markarova.

Instability of coordinates

Recall that in early June, Biden, during a telephone conversation with Zelensky, invited him to come to the United States in July.

The Ukrainian leader announced this on his Twitter, thanking the head of the White House for the invitation and stressing that he was looking forward to a meeting at which he plans to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.

Thank you @ POTUS @ JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation.

I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA

- Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) June 7, 2021

After that, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Kuleba, told reporters that a meeting between Zelensky and Biden was scheduled for the end of July.

However, on July 21, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced that the summit would take place on August 30.

Later, Kuleba said in an interview with the Ukraine 24 TV channel that at the meeting of the two leaders, three blocks of issues will be considered, one of which is political.

According to him, Kiev and Washington need to bring the strategic partnership "to a new level."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also noted that in the second block, the main topic will be the situation around Donbass and the Crimean peninsula.

The third series of questions will touch upon the problems of the Ukrainian economy.

As Kuleba stressed, Kiev does not hide the fact that Ukraine needs "more American money."

In addition, the Foreign Minister announced the signing of a number of joint documents.

Some of them, he said, are in the final stages of processing.

Later, during a briefing, Kuleba announced that the negotiations had been postponed to August 31, allegedly in connection with the expansion of the visit program.

Psaki said last week that Biden's meeting with Zelenskiy would reaffirm US support for Ukraine's sovereignty amid "aggression" from Russia.

  • Jen Psaki White House Press Secretary

  • Reuters

  • © Jonathan Ernst

“This visit will confirm the continued support of the United States for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression in Donbass and Crimea, our close cooperation on energy security, our support for President Zelenskiy’s efforts to combat corruption and the implementation of a reform program based on our shared democratic values, ”a White House spokeswoman said during an August 27 briefing.

We will remind, Kiev and Washington accuse Moscow of allegedly participating in the internal Ukrainian conflict in Donbass.

Russia has repeatedly rejected this, emphasizing that it is not a party to the conflict and is not interested in an armed clash with Ukraine.

"Far from the first place"

As political analyst and economist Alexander Dudchak noted in an interview with RT, the next postponement by the White House of Biden's meeting with Zelensky "eloquently shows Washington's disdainful attitude" towards Kiev.   

“This proves once again that Ukraine is far from being in the first place on the current US agenda.

In addition, Washington does not consider Zelensky's visit as full-fledged negotiations, since it does not consider Kiev an equal partner with whom it is possible to coordinate positions, seek compromises and discuss joint plans.

In this case, Zelensky arrives with a report on the tasks completed by the American leadership.

For the United States, this is a simple formality - they already know what steps Ukraine intends to take, because they themselves dictate them to it, ”the expert said.

The interlocutor of RT in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine also believes that by the next postponement of the meeting, the Biden administration showed its attitude towards the Ukrainian delegation.

“This suggests that the meeting is not very important for the head of the White House.

Zelensky in Washington will simply announce the next action plan and, in return, promise to resume cooperation with the IMF, ”he said.

According to a RT source at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, initially, Zelensky's entourage hoped that a tete-a-tete meeting of the Ukrainian leader with Biden would take place before the summit of the head of the White House with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which took place in Geneva in June.

“Then the meeting was planned for the end of July, and then the exact dates began to be changed.

Relations between Ukraine and the United States turned out to be more complicated than many predicted earlier, ”he said.

According to the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research Vladimir Bruter, the postponement of the meeting once again indicates that Zelensky in Washington "no one is waiting for."

“And Kiev's attempts to turn the current situation in its favor through statements that Ukraine will allegedly become a key newsmaker on the American agenda look extremely ridiculous.

Kiev has no choice but to justify the Americans and repeat its thesis that Ukraine is an extremely important partner for the United States.

But this is a legend invented by the Ukrainian authorities, as well as the fact that following the meeting between Biden and Zelensky, documents will allegedly be signed that could affect something, ”the analyst said.

At the same time, for Zelensky, a meeting with Biden is "PR and a pretty picture," Bruter said.

“The Ukrainian leader will talk about Washington being a strategic partner that will give money.

There will be statements about a cloud of US investors who are supposedly eager to invest in Ukraine and who are not really planning anything like that.

Surely Zelensky will also say that Silicon Valley is showing great interest in Ukraine as a country with underestimated technical capabilities.

But after all these statements, no concrete actions will follow from Washington, ”the expert is sure.

Dudchak also believes that the meeting between the leaders of the United States and Ukraine, which Kiev sees as a landmark event, will in fact bring him nothing.

  • US President Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Jonathan Ernst

“This is just an information show organized by these two countries.

The Ukrainian political elite presents this meeting as a negotiation of equal politicians.

In parallel, a media campaign is underway, the main idea of ​​which is that the West, led by the United States, will help Ukraine.

But no significant assistance to Kiev from Washington will not be seen, although it will continue to beg, ”the analyst said.

As Bruter added for his part, there will be no progress in the negotiations and on the situation around Crimea and Donbass.

"Biden does not intend to delve deeply into these issues, he will limit himself only to formal phrases on these topics, adorned with anti-Russian declarations that have been heard more than once," the expert said.

As the RT source in the Batkivshchyna party summed up, "all this looks like a big favor" that the White House is doing for Zelensky.

“Many in Ukraine were so happy about the election of Biden, they believed that now they would live on American money.

But the relationship between Kiev and the new US administration cannot be said to have developed.

The Ukrainian delegation unfoundedly declares almost a breakthrough in relations with Washington, but I would not be surprised if the official visit is postponed again, ”said the representative of Batkivshchyna.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.