As the Biden presidency nears its end, Ukraine makes moves to ensure future U.S. support

The Ukrainian government will have to adjust to a new face in the White House after U.S. voters choose a new president this fall.

The pending shift in Oval Office leadership could have profound implications for Kyiv, which has received strong support from the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden during its two-plus years of fighting Russia's all-out invasion.

However, with Biden's departure from the presidential race, there is uncertainty about what will happen at the polls on Nov. 5. For Kyiv, that raises the question of how a change in White House leadership may affect U.S.. support for Ukraine.

"The stakes are really enormous for leaders in Ukraine," said Peter Harris, an associate professor of political science at Colorado State University.

The reality has left Ukraine hedging its bets on who may be at the helm of the U.S. government next year.

As such, Ukrainian officials have already reached out to two individuals who could succeed Biden in office: U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, the apparent front-runner to be the Democratic nominee, and former U.S. president Donald Trump, the Republicans' presidential pick.

If Kamala Harris wins the Oval Office, Kyiv will be dealing with a leader who has been part of an administration that has backed Ukraine's fight with Russia, providing tens of billions of dollars in military aid.

On Tuesday, Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, spoke with Phil Gordon, the national security adviser to the U.S. vice-president.

According to Yermak's office, the call involved a discussion of the ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine's cities and the situation at the front, and "emphasized" a need to equip Ukraine with modern air-defence systems.

Observers believe the relationship between Washington and Kyiv would not change drastically if Kamala Harris wins the election.

"I would expect that she'll maintain Joe Biden's policy of supporting Ukraine," said Peter Harris, who co-authored a recent paper examining U.S.. interests in Ukraine and the role politics could play in shaping future support.

That opinion is echoed by Anastasiia Vlasenko, a research associate at Harvard University's Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) who also predicts a level of "agenda continuity" in a Kamala Harris-led government.

Trump has been on Ukraine's radar for some time — as has the more general possibility of change in the White House, even if the timing of Biden's departure had not been foreseen, Vlasenko said. 

"It's not like the Ukrainians did not expect natural change of American leadership to occur over time," she said.