Pelosi visits Kyiv, meets with Ukraine president
KYIV, Ukraine -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has led a
Congressional delegation to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine's president before
heading to Poland for talks with officials there.
Pelosi, a
California Democrat and 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.
“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 released Sunday.
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 Zelenskyy both thanked each other for their support in the
war.
“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.
“You all are welcome,” Zelenskyy told the delegation.
Pelosi told Zelenskyy: “We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom."
“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 wasn't previously announced.
Pelosi said the delegation would continue its trip in southeast
Poland and the capital, Warsaw, to meet with President Andrzej Duda and
other senior officials. Poland has received more than 3 million refugees
from Ukraine since Russia launched its war on Feb. 24.
“We look forward to thanking our Polish allies for their dedication and humanitarian efforts,” she said
