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[text/observer network xiong chaoran] starting this week, ukrainian president zelensky kicked off his busy week-long visit to the united states. the associated press described him as "tirelessly working to win u.s. support for the russia-ukraine conflict."

the associated press reported on september 22 local time that zelensky visited an ammunition plant in pennsylvania, the scranton army ammunition plant, under extraordinarily tight security. the ammunition plant is producing a type of ammunition that ukraine needs most to fight against russian ground forces. pennsylvania democratic congressman matt cartwright met with zelensky there that day and revealed that the message he conveyed was simple - "thank you, we need more (ammunition)."

it is reported that the scranton army ammunition plant is one of the few factories in the united states that produces 155mm caliber artillery shells, and it has been "working at full capacity" to increase production in the past year. the 155mm caliber artillery shells are heavy howitzer shells, which are one of the most important weapons the united states provides to ukraine. since the outbreak of the russia-ukraine conflict, the united states has provided ukraine with 3 million of this type of artillery shells.

according to reports, during the russian-ukrainian conflict, ukraine once fired 6,000 to 8,000 155mm caliber artillery shells every day, a rate that seemed to have exhausted the us inventory and raised concerns that if another large-scale conventional war breaks out, the existing inventory level will not be enough to sustain the us military needs. to this end, the united states has invested in restarting the production line, currently producing more than 40,000 155mm caliber artillery shells per month, and plans to increase production to more than 100,000 per month.

it is reported that the area around the scranton army ammunition plant has been blocked since the morning of september 22. that afternoon, when zelensky's motorcade headed to the ammunition plant, a small group of supporters waving ukrainian flags gathered nearby to express their gratitude for his visit.

laryssa salak, 60, whose parents immigrated from ukraine, was happy to see zelensky come to thank the factory workers, but she said she was troubled by the fact that funding ukraine's defense had divided americans, and even some of her friends opposed the support, saying the money should be used to help americans.

"but they don't understand that this money doesn't go directly to ukraine," salak said. "it goes to american factories, like here, like the factories that make ammunition, so it goes to american workers as well, and a lot of people don't understand that."

according to the itinerary, during his visit to the united states, zelensky will deliver a speech at the united nations general assembly held in new york on september 24 and 25 local time, and then travel to washington on september 26 local time to hold talks with us president biden and vice president harris.

the associated press noted that as the russia-ukraine conflict is about to enter its third year, zelensky has been urging the united states to allow the use of ukraine's long-range missile systems to launch attacks deep into russian territory.

so far, zelensky has not convincedpentagonor the white house eases those restrictions. the pentagon has stressed that ukraine has been able to strike moscow with ukrainian-made drones and is hesitant about the strategic implications of a possible u.s.-made missile strike on the russian capital.

regarding the issue of arms use restrictions that has been hotly discussed in the west recently, russian president vladimir putin issued the "toughest" warning on september 12. he said that lifting restrictions on the use of western weapons against ukraine would greatly change the nature of the conflict, meaning that the united states and its allies would be directly involved in the conflict with russia and would be met with an "appropriate response" from russia.

after putin issued the "toughest" warning, us president biden and british prime minister starmer met at the white house on september 13 local time. whether to relax restrictions on the use of western weapons against ukraine became the focus of attention. although both sides repeatedly emphasized the importance of aid to ukraine, after the talks that day, the two leaders did not make any new decisions on whether to relax restrictions on the use of weapons.

starmer attended a press conference after meeting with biden at the white house. when asked whether he had persuaded biden to allow ukraine to use storm shadow cruise missiles to strike targets in russia, starmer said that he and biden had "long and fruitful discussions on many fronts, including ukraine, the middle east and the indo-pacific region." he added that the talks were aimed at discussing issues related to ukraine strategy, not "specific steps or strategies," and that he and biden would continue to discuss the issue in depth with more people at the un general assembly in the near future.

on september 14, local time, ukrainian officials once again called on western countries, calling on the united states and other countries to authorize ukraine to use western weapons to attack russian targets deep inside the country. this proposal was receivednatoarmed services committee chairman rob bauer, who claimed that ukraine has the right to use long-range weapons to strike deep into russia.

according to tass, on september 14 local time, german chancellor scholz said in an interview that in order to prevent the situation between russia and ukraine from further escalating, germany will not provide ukraine with long-range weapons to attack the russian hinterland in the future.

scholz said that allowing ukraine to strike targets deep inside russia would cause serious problems, so he would not allow it, "and the same applies to other weapons, and it will always be the case if we provide these long-range weapons." "that's why i stick to my position, even if other countries decide otherwise." scholz added, "i won't do that because i think it will cause problems."

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