KYIV, Ukraine
U.S. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi paid a publicly unannounced visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend and, in doing so, became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.
The speaker of the House led
an official congressional delegation to the capital of Kyiv on Saturday,
the first of its kind since the war broke out.
The group included fellow
senior House Democrats such as Intelligence Committee Chair, Adam
Schiff and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Gregory Meeks,
Politico reported.
“Our delegation travelled to
Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world:
America stands firmly with Ukraine,” the group said in a statement.
Meeting with Zelenskyy,
Pelosi told the Ukrainian president, “Our commitment is to be
there for you until the fight is done.”
Zelensky awarded U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the Order of Princess Olga for a “significant personal contribution" to strengthening Ukrainian-American cooperation and "supporting sovereign, independent and democratic Ukraine.”
The visit, which came a week
after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin travelled to Kyiv, carried significant
security concerns.
“While other groups of
lawmakers plan to travel to nations bordering the conflict like Poland during
the upcoming House recess, none planned to travel directly into the active war
zone,” according to Politico, which noted that other U.S lawmakers have visited
the country in unofficial capacities.
As of last month, it also
appeared unlikely that President Joe Biden whom
Zelenskyy has requested a visit from or Vice President Kamala Harris would
make a similar trip given the risks.
Pelosi, who is second in line
to the presidency, said the three hours she spent with the “dazzling” Ukrainian
president was “a remarkable master class of leadership,” speaking at a press
conference in Rzeszow, Poland on Sunday.
The trip to Kyiv by Pelosi and
the small group of Democratic lawmakers was kept under wraps until Sunday by
which time the group was already out of Ukraine, The New York Times reported.
Pelosi spent “just over three
hours on the ground in Kyiv,” according to CNN, before traveling to Poland to meet
with President Andrzej Duda and other top officials.
Pelosi made her surprise trip
as Russian forces continue to attack Ukraine, and the besieged country presses
the U.S. and other allies to provide additional assistance.
Biden last week asked Congress
to provide an additional $33 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine,
an escalation that puts the U.S. “on track to spend as much this year helping
the Ukrainians as it did on average each year fighting its own war in
Afghanistan,” according to the Times.
“The signals that the United
States and President Biden are giving today are very important,”
Zelenskyy said during his meeting with Pelosi. “These are recent
strong steps in defense and financial support for Ukraine, as well as decisions
on Lend-Lease,” referring to the World War II-era program, which expedites the
provision of military aid to Ukraine that the House approved last week.
“We are grateful for that,”
Zelenskyy said. The Pelosi-led group reiterated America’s continued support for Ukraine at
Sunday’s press conference. “Nothing is going to decrease, everything is going
to increase,” Meeks said. - Africa
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