President Joe Biden dispatched House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a secret mission to Kyiv on Saturday where she met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to deliver a message of U.S. solidarity.
Zelensky has previously pleaded with Biden to personally visit the capital city to show he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine as it struggles through its eighth year of war and colonization by neighboring Russia.
Zelensky got Pelosi instead as Biden continues to steadfastly ignore all entreaties to make a personal appearance. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was also on hand to provide diplomatic backup.
“Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine,” Pelosi said in a statement.
The California Democrat, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, is the most senior American lawmaker to visit the embattled country since Russia’s war began back in February.
Her visit to Kyiv marks a major show of continuing support for the country’s struggle against Moscow’s invasion forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awards the Order of Princess Olga, the third grade, to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, third from right, and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, third from left, talk during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Pelosi was joined by several lawmakers on the congressional trip that came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the same journey last weekend, as Breitbart News reported.
Pelosi said Zelensky had made clear Ukraine needed more security, economic and humanitarian aid “to address the devastating human toll taken on the Ukrainian people by (President Vladimir) Putin’s diabolic invasion.”
“Our delegation proudly delivered the message that additional American support is on the way,” she said.
Footage released by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office showed Pelosi and other U.S. legislators in Kyiv. In video later released by Pelosi’s office, the speaker and Zelensky both thanked each other for their support in the war.
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, center, talks during her meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
“We’ll win and we’ll win together,” Zelenskyy said.
Pelosi added: “We are here until victory is won.”
The full congressional delegation included Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Schiff, of California who chairs the House Intelligence Committee; Jim McGovern of Massachusetts who chairs the House Rules Committee; Jason Crow of Colorado; Barbara Lee of California; and Bill Keating of Massachusetts.