Zelensky met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senators behind closed doors, while 32 NATO members gathered across town to craft a summit declaration that fell low of even a full invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance.
Zelensky the last he visited Capitol in December, as Republican lawmakers and the White House squabbled for months over novel aid for Ukraine nearly two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Congress later approved $60 billion support in April.
The measure stalled for two months in the House of Representatives as Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, held a series of meetings weighing whether the chamber should take action.
Johnson ultimately decided to move forward, release of four bills each of which would receive separate votes before being combined into one package and sent to the Senate.
Johnson told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting that Zelensky had provided an update on the situation in Ukraine and that the two had a “good conversation.”
“And, you know, they expressed gratitude for the United States’ help and hope that they would be able to prevail there and that, you know, good would triumph over evil,” according to a transcript of the call released by Johnson’s office.
Asked if he supported restrictions on how Ukraine could utilize U.S.-supplied weapons, Johnson replied: “I made it clear that the will of Congress was to give them the flexibility to use the weapons and assistance that were sent to fight the war however they saw fit. So I support that. I believe that’s what Congress had in mind.”
The Biden administration recently allowed Ukraine intends to utilize American weapons for restricted attacks on the Russian border.
Invitation to visit Ukraine
In response to a reporter’s question before the meeting, Zelensky invited Johnson to visit Ukraine, but the speaker replied that his schedule would be tight until the presidential election in November.
“It’s hard to find the time to go there, but I would definitely like to,” Johnson said. he said.
The face-to-face meeting with Johnson came after Zelensky met earlier with a bipartisan Senate delegation led by Schumer and McConnell.
Video published In the C-SPAN video, Zelensky is seen shaking hands with the New York Democrat and the Kentucky Republican before entering the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building, where he presents them with the Ukrainian Order of Merit, First Class.
Zelensky said in a statement that he and the lawmakers “discussed the current situation on the battlefield and U.S. defense support. I informed them about the increase in Russian missile terror against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.”
“I express my gratitude to the President of the United States, both houses of Congress, both parties and the American people for their support for Ukraine,” he said. he wrote on social media shortly after the meeting.
Schumer described it as an “honor” to welcome Zelensky to the Senate.
“MAGA extremists — led by Trump — just wanted to let Putin have his way,” Schumer wrote on social media, referring to Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, and repeating his earlier comments on the Senate floor.
“The Senate has shown leadership by pushing to provide Ukraine with the support it needs. America stands with Ukraine,” he said.
McConnell published statement on X, which said that decades ago President Ronald Reagan “reminded the world that ‘support for freedom fighters is self-defense.’ There is no boundary between America’s interests and the defense of Ukraine. As always, we are proud to welcome President @ZelenskyyUA to the U.S. Senate.”
Russia condemned
Late Wednesday afternoon, NATO members announced their official Summit Declarationcondemning Russia as “the most serious and immediate threat to Alliance security” and allocating additional military equipment, training and funds to Ukraine.
“We confirm that we will be able to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance once Allies have expressed their agreement and the conditions have been met. The decisions of the NATO Summit and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with the ongoing work of Allies, provide a bridge to Ukraine’s NATO membership,” the declaration later said.
President Joe Biden opened the NATO meeting with a low public address Wednesday afternoon, before a closed working session with member states.
“Russia is in a war zone right now when it comes to defense production,” Biden said. “… In my view, we cannot allow the alliance to fall behind.”
Biden too gave the opening speech at the alliance’s 75th anniversary celebrations in Washington on Tuesday evening, where he declared that NATO was “more powerful than ever.”
