Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova on Sunday praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Kyiv as a symbol of the U.S.’s strong support for Ukraine.
Ms. Markarova said the “U.S. has been leading the support,” and that democracies remain “united around Ukraine,” as the country carries the burden of war with Russia.
“We’re very happy that right after a visit of Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin, right after the visit of our prime minister here, it was a special delight to see Madam Speaker with the delegation in Kyiv meeting with our president,” Ms. Markarova told ABC’s “This Week.” “I think it’s yet another sign of a very, very strong support that Ukraine has here in the United States.”
The House speaker became the most senior U.S. lawmaker to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his war-torn country since the Russian invasion after leading a congressional delegation in an unannounced visit to Kyiv over the weekend.
The California Democrat said Sunday the lawmakers discussed the need for continued assistance and delivered a message of unity in their meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy.
“Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine,” Mrs. Pelosi said in a statement.
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She said Mr. Zelenskyy thanked the lawmakers for the U.S. assistance and “conveyed the clear need for continued security, economic and humanitarian assistance from the United States to address the devastating human toll taken on the Ukrainian people by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s diabolic invasion.”
Last week, President Biden requested an additional $33.4 billion in Ukraine aid from Congress, including $20 billion in security assistance, $8.5 billion in economic assistance, and $3 billion in humanitarian assistance.
Mrs. Pelosi said the delegation included Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, James McGovern and William Keating of Massachusetts, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee of California, and Jason Crow of Colorado. They told Mr. Zelenskyy “additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package,” she said.
Mrs. Markarova said Ukrainians remain committed to defeating Russia and believe a victory is within their grasp.
She said continued support from the West is vital to ensuring Russia’s defeat.
“We look forward to Congress approving it, because this is everything that we need on the ground very much, and we count on the U.S. in this,” Ms. Markarova said.
“We feel and we know that Americans, our brothers and sisters in this fight for freedom for democracy, and as we are about to review here in the United States, the next package of support to Ukraine, which President Biden submitted recently to Congress, I believe it’s very symbolic that Speaker Pelosi visited Ukraine,” she said.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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