Speaker Pelosi meets Zelensky on Kyiv trip, pledges US support ‘until fight is done’
KYIV, Ukraine — US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has met with Ukraine’s president during a visit to the country’s embattled capital, Kyiv.
Pelosi, second in line to the presidency after the vice president, is the highest-ranking American leader to visit Ukraine since the start of the war, and her visit marks a major show of continuing support for the country’s struggle against Russia.
Footage released early Sunday by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office showed Pelosi in Kyiv with a congressional delegation including Jason Crow, Jim McGovern and Adam Schiff.
Zelensky greeted the delegation outdoors before they adjourned to a meeting room where he said, “I am grateful to you for this signal of strong support from the United States, the people, and Congress — bicameral and bipartisan support.”
“This shows that the United States today is a leader in strong support for Ukraine during the war against the aggression of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.
Pelosi told Zelensky: “We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom.”
Зустріч зі спікером Палати представників Конгресу США @SpeakerPelosi в Києві. Сполучені Штати є лідером потужної підтримки України в боротьбі з агресією РФ. Дякуємо, що допомагаєте захищати суверенітет і територіальну цілісність нашої держави! pic.twitter.com/QXSBPFoGQh
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 1, 2022
“We are on a frontier of freedom and your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi added.
The visit had not been previously announced.
“Our delegation proudly delivered the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package,” Pelosi’s office said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden last week proposed a huge $33 billion package for arming and supporting Ukraine.
Biden also outlined proposed new laws to allow using luxury assets stripped from Russian oligarchs to compensate Ukraine for the destruction wreaked by the invading Russians.
“When we return to the United States, we will do so further informed, deeply inspired and ready to do what is needed to help the Ukrainian people as they defend democracy for their nation and for the world,” Pelosi’s statement continued.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv last month.