Pool Reports of September 1, 2021

Pool Report 1/Briefing delayed

Good morning from the White House. Today's press briefing with Jen Psaki, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., has been delayed.

The White House says:

"The press briefing will begin right after the pool spray with President Biden and President Zelenskyy at 2:30 PM."

Pool Report 2/Gathered for Oval

The pool has gathered for President Biden's pool spray with President Zelensky of Ukraine.

Pool Report 3/Oval

The pool entered the Oval Office at 2:05. President Biden and President Zelensky were seated in chairs near the fireplace.

Biden spoke of wanting "a Europe whole, free and at peace" and opposing "Russian aggression." He said that he wanted to talk about distributing COVID-19 vaccines, among other issues, and reminisced about a past visit to Ukraine. Biden said he wanted to visit the country again.

Zelensky's introductory remarks were not in English. A translator relayed pleasantries and his condolences for US troops in Afghanistan. He also noted the war deaths in eastern Ukraine.

Pool Report 4/No Questions

The pool was removed from the Oval Office at 2:17.

President Biden did not answer shouted questions, including about a Reuters report on Biden asking former Afghan President Ghani to convey inaccurate information on the Taliban insurgency and about Biden looking at his watch during the recent casket return ceremony for US troops killed in Kabul.

In his introductory remarks, Zelensky also mentioned the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and a variety of other issues, including "economic revival" of his country.

Pool Report 5/Ukraine meeting info

The White House shares the following:

Attending the President's bilateral meeting with His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine:

U.S. Manifest
The President
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Ms. Kristina Kvien, Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine
T.H. Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs, National Security Council
Mr. Christopher Smith, Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, National Security Council

Ukraine Manifest
H.E Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
H.E. Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
H.E. Dmytro Kuleba, Minister for Foreign Affairs
H.E. Andrii Taran, Minister of Defense
H.E. Andrii Sybiha, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and Chief Foreign Policy Adviser
H.E. Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States
H.E. German Galushchenko, Minister of Energy

Pool Report 6/2 minute warning

We have a 2-minute warning for Jen Psaki's press briefing.

Pool Report 7/Lid

The White House called a travel/photo lid at 4:16.

According to the White House, President Biden's meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine ended at 4:12.

Foreign pool report #1 - backround on President Zelenskyy's visit

Good afternoon,

I'll be your foreign pooler for President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the White House.

The meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office is scheduled to start at 2:00 PM. This will be the first in-person engagement between Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy but they have already spoken twice by phone - in April and in June. The second phone call took place before Biden-Putin summit in Geneva. After Angela Merkel, Zelenskyy will be the second European leader to meet President Biden at the White House. The meeting was originally planned for August 30 but was later rescheduled.

Zelenskyy's visit to the White House will be the first by a Ukrainian leader in more than four years. His predecessor Petro Poroshenko met with former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in June 2017. Zelenskyy met Trump on the sidelines of the UN summit in New York in September 2019 following the controversial "do us a favor" phone call, which led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. "Thank you for invitation to Washington (...) You invited me (...), but you forgot to tell me the date" – joked Zelenskyy.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington on Monday afternoon with his wife Olena Zelenska. On Tuesday he met with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian First Lady also paid tribute to victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932–1933 at the Holodomor Memorial located near the U.S. Capitol building. Earlier today they visited the Arlington National Cemetery and took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Zelenskyy also visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. After meeting with President Biden in the Oval Office the Ukrainian delegation will fly to California to meet with tech CEO's.

43-years old Volodymyr Zelenskyy was born in Kryvyy Rih in central Ukraine. He grew up as a native Russian speaker but he is also fluent in Ukrainian and English. Zelenskyy received a law degree from Kyiv National Economic University but decided to pursue a career as an actor, comedian, script writer and producer. The office of the President of Ukraine's lists on its website numerous Zelenskyy's achievements in the entertainment industry, including 30 awards of the National Television Award of Ukraine "Teletriumph". In 2015 Zelenskyy played a role of a schoolteacher who was elected president in a popular television series Servant of the People. Three years later the political party Servant of the People was created and he successfully run for President of Ukraine, easily unseating the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko. On 20 May, 2019 Zelenskyy was sworn in as the 6th President of Ukraine.

On the agenda:

Announcing Zelenskyy's visit, the White House stated that the meeting with President Biden will affirm "the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression". The WH Press Secretary's statement also mentions cooperation on energy security, tackling corruption and implementing reforms agenda based on democratic values.

-Military assistance:

Since Russian aggression in 2014 the U.S. has provided Ukraine with $2,5 billion in security assistance. Ahead of Zelensky's visit President Biden's approved a new $60 million package, that include portable Javelin anti-armor systems. On Tuesday at the Pentagon number of agreements on defense partnership have been signed between the U.S. and Ukraine, including the Strategic Defense Framework.

-Energy security:

Earlier this year President Biden waived sanctions against company overseeing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline essentially letting the project to continue. This decision was met with widespread criticism in Ukraine and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The U.S. and Germany announced later an agreement to mitigate potential attempts by Russia to use energy as a weapon. In response, Ukraine and Poland released a joint statement saying that the steps were insufficient to effectively limit the threats created by NS2. Before Zelensky's trip to Washington a group Ukrainian lawmakers, civil society activists and experts called NS2 "a corrupt scheme" and urged the U.S. to change the course.

After Tuesday's meeting with Secretary Granholm Zelenskyy noted that he saw support of the US Department of Energy in the issue of Nord Stream 2 and proposed regular consultations between Ukraine, Germany and the U.S. to preserve gas transit through Ukraine. "The common approaches of Ukraine and the United States to the risks posed by this project were stated" - says a statement from the Office of the President of Ukraine. Zelenskyy praised cooperation with the U.S. in the nuclear energy sector. "We see that there will be a comprehensive investment in Ukraine's nuclear energy. This is the first important step. We were looking for an investment. We have support now," he said.

-NATO membership:

Last week in an interview with The Washington Post and other media outlets Zelenskyy expressed frustration with Western allies' hesitancy to speed up Ukraine's accession to NATO. However, a former diplomat and Brookings expert Steven Pifer warned, that in order to make his visit to Washington successful, the Ukrainian President needed to bring reasonable expectations. Pifer noted that NATO members remain reluctant to put Ukraine on a membership track when it's being engaged in a low-intensity war with Russia, and suggested that Kyiv should focus on practical steps to prepare for progress when a window of opportunity opens. After his visit to Pentagon on Tuesday Zelenskyy noted that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed support for Ukraine's aspirations for NATO membership.

Foreign pool report #2 - arrival

?President Zelenskyy arrived at the West Wing doors at 1:58 PM in a black SUV. He was greeted by the U.S. Chief of Protocol. The pool has now gathered for the Biden-Zelenskyy bilateral. Both leaders are expected to give remarks on top of the meeting.

Earlier today President Biden said on Twitter that he looked forward to welcoming President Zelenskyy to the White House "to reaffirm America's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations".

According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the following officials will join President Zelenskyy at the Oval Office:

• Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak,
• Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba,
• Defense minister Andiy Taran,
• Energy minister Herman Galushchenko
• Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. Oksana Markarova,
• Deputy Head of the President's Office Andriy Sybiga.

Foreign pool report #3 - the Oval Office

The pool entered the Oval Office at 2:05 pm. After POTUS's remarks Zelenskyy spoke in Ukrainian.

"The United States is our strategic partner and supporter of our sovereignty, and our territorial integrity" - he said through interpreter. Zelenskyy thanked President Biden for sending more than 2 million vaccines to Ukraine and for additional 60 million dollars in military assistance.

Zelenskyy also said that they will talk about situation in Donbass and "Ukrainian Crimea occupied by the Russian Federation, as well as security in the Black Sea, and security in the Azov Sea region".

As usual check the quotes against official transcript.

The pool was escorted out at 2:17 pm.

Presidents did not answer shouted questions.

More quotes to follow.

Foreign pool report #4 - Zelenskyy's quotes

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's quotes from the Oval Office:

US support:

"The United States is our strategic partner and supporter of our sovereignty and our territorial integrity, and I would like to use this occasion to thank President Biden for following up on our conversation on the phone and dispatching more than 2 million vaccines to save Ukrainian lives. And thank you for the $60 million program for Defense Development of Ukraine, we appreciate this contribution".

Afghanistan:

"Mr. President. Please accept my sincere condolences for the tragic death of Americans who tried to save lives in Afghanistan and sacrificed their own. We are very compassionate, since we have been dealing with such tragic losses for eight years in a row, as we have this in the Ukrainian Donbas, and we have lost 15,000 of our best people".

Conflict with Russia:

"We have to focus very much now on the security issues which are the most important - security in Ukrainian Donbas and in the Ukrainian Crimea occupied by the Russian Federation, security in the Black Sea, and security in the Azov Sea region".

Zelenskyy also said that he would like to discuss with President Biden:

• President Biden government's vision of Ukraine's chances to join NATO and the timeframe for this accession,
• energy security related to Nord Stream 2,
• the role the Unite States can play being involved in a peaceful settlement in Donbas,
• the rule that the United States would like to play in this transformation and economic revival of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also said that this morning his representatives handed over to the U.S. government a list of prisoners held in, what he called, temporarily occupied Donbas and temporarily occupied Crimea. "There are 450 people, or more, which are held there, and we would love to have your assistance in freeing them and bringing them back to their country" – Zelenskyy said.

Please check the quotes against the official transcript.

Foreign pool report #5 - departure

The bilateral meeting concluded at 4:12 PM, pet the White House.

President Zelenskyy departed at 4:17 PM. He waved and nodded through the window to a small group of reporters witnessing his departure from the stakeout location.

The White House called a travel/ photo lid at 4:16 PM.