WASHINGTON, December 21. /TASS/. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s surprise visit to Washington was triggered by a decline in support for his country in the US.

"He would not be making this trip if support [for Ukraine] in [the] US wasn’t decreasing while Russians take out energy sources and bombard cities," Psaki wrote on her Twitter page on Wednesday.

A high-ranking US administration official said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian president would visit Washington D.C. on December 21 at the invitation of US leader Joe Biden. According to the official, Biden and Zelensky are scheduled to meet at the White House for an extended meeting, as well as Zelensky's talks with "key members of President Biden's national security team and members of his cabinet." Zelensky is also expected to address the US Congress.

According to a Washington administration official, the US and Ukrainian leaders discussed Zelensky's visit to Washington during a telephone conversation on December 11. An official invitation to visit Washington on December 21 was sent to Zelensky on December 14. The visit was finally confirmed on December 18. This will be Zelensky's second visit to the United States since he became president, and the first since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.