No agreement on date of Zelensky’s visit to Washington

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will not be
visiting Washington in July, as previously reported. Instead, the Biden
administration wants the visit to occur in August before Ukraine’s Independence
Day, zn.ua reported on July 16. The delay stems from Washington’s ongoing
concerns over the replacement of the head of Naftogaz. Head of the Presidential
Office Andriy Yermak and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland have
repeatedly issued coordinated regarding the upcoming visit, and in statements
agreed upon in advance, Nuland’s team has consistently struck “in July” from
drafts sent by Yermak’s team.

James Hydzik: It is highly unlikely that the Zelensky administration will accede to
Washington’s demands regarding Naftogaz under the present circumstances. As
such, the welcome in Washington will be relatively cold, and there is no way
that the visit will occur in July. Despite the complaints of the Ukrainian
government, either something is gained by having Yuriy Vitrenko as CEO of
Naftogaz instead of Andriy Kobolev, or there is an excess of pride involved
with making such a decision, and this is worth the extended mismatch of vision
with Washington.