“The plant produces 155-mm artillery shells used in howitzer systems, which can hit at a distance of up to 32 kilometers”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Two U.S. officials told the AP that Zelenskyi will visit the Scranton munitions plant as he begins his landmark trip, which will also include addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24 and meeting separately at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris September 26.
The Office of the President of Ukraine reported that Zelenskyi will also meet with the ex-president of the United States, the presidential candidate from the Republican Party, Donald Trump.
Zelensky is seeking to bolster global support for Kyiv’s fight against Russian aggression and obtain permission — particularly from the United States and Britain — to use Western weapons to strike Russian territory to help prevent attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian civilian and military targets.
He plans to present his “victory plan” to Biden, which includes requests for long-range strike capabilities and other weapons and will form the basis of any future negotiations with the Kremlin.
Zelenskyi’s first stop will be the city of Scranton to visit a munitions plant that produces 155mm artillery shells used in howitzer systems that can hit up to 32 kilometers away, allowing troops to destroy enemy targets from a protected distance.
So far, the United States has supplied Kyiv with more than 3 million shells and produces up to 8,000 of them per day.
It is expected that senior Pentagon officials and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will meet with Zelensky at the plant.