MONDAY, MAY 2 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
War in UkraineBY BRYAN PIETSCH,
JENNIFER HASSAN
AND ADAM TAYLORHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi
made a surprise visit to Kyiv,
telling Ukrainian President Vo-
lodymyr Zelensky that the United
States is committed to “be there
for you until the fight is done.”
Pelosi, a California Democrat
who is next in line to the presi-
dency after the vice president,
became the highest-ranking U.S.
leader to visit Ukraine since Rus-
sia invaded more than two
months ago. She led Democratic
lawmakers on the first official
congressional delegation there
since the war began.
“We are on a frontier of free-
dom, and your fight is a fight for
everyone,” Pelosi told Zelensky in
a meeting her office said took
place on Saturday evening local
time. A video of the remarks was
shared by Zelensky’s office.
At a news conference Sunday
in Poland, Pelosi said the West
could not just back down in the
face of Russian threats. “Let me
just speak for myself,” Pelosi said.
“Do not be bullied by bullies. If
they’re making threats, you can-
not back down. We’re there for
the fight, and you cannot fold to a
bully.”
Pelosi and several other House
Democrats made the visit two
days after President Biden un-
veiled a sweeping $33 billion
spending package that would
provide military and humanitari-
an aid to Ukraine. Biden has
asked Congress to swiftly approve
funds to help Kyiv in what may be
a decisive phase in its war with
Russia.
Speaking at a news conference
in Poland after leaving Ukraine,
one of the members of the delega-
tion, Rep. Jason Crow (Colo.), said
Sunday that the emphasis of the
trip was clear: “Weapons, weap-
ons and weapons,” echoing a re-
cent remark by Ukraine’s foreign
minister. “We have to make sure
the Ukrainians have the weapons
to win.”
House Foreign Affairs Commit-
tee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks
(N.Y.), another member of the
delegation, said the trip showed a
need for more pressure on Russia.
“Nothing is going to decrease,”
Meeks said.
News of the visit was broken by
Zelensky, who on Sunday morn-
ing shared a video of Pelosi walk-
ing the streets of Ukraine’s capital
with other House Democrats, in-
cluding Intelligence Committee
Chairman Adam B. Schiff (Calif.),
Rules Committee Chairman Jim
McGovern (Mass.), Meeks and
Crow. Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.)
and William R. Keating (Mass.)
were also part of the delegation,
Pelosi’s office said.
Writing on Twitter, Zelensky
thanked the visitors for “helping
to protect the sovereignty andterritorial integrity of our state!”
After their meeting, the Ukrai-
nian president awarded Pelosi
the Order of Princess Olga medal,
conferring on her a Ukrainian
civil decoration that, according to
a 1997 presidential decree, is giv-
en to women who have made
outstanding contributions to the
Ukrainian state.
Pelosi’s delegation then trav-
eled to Poland for meetings with
Polish President Andrzej Duda
and senior officials, according to
a statement from Pelosi’s office.
The lawmakers, in a statement,
said Zelensky began the meeting
by thanking the Americans for
“the substantial assistance thatwe have provided.”
“Our delegation proudly deliv-
ered the message that additional
American support is on the way,
as we work to transform Presi-
dent Biden’s strong funding re-
quest into a legislative package,”
the statement added.
“Our delegation traveled to
Kyiv to send an unmistakable and
resounding message to the entire
world: America stands firmly
with Ukraine,” the lawmakers
said in the statement.
The delegation’s visit came af-
ter the highest-ranking visitors so
far from the Biden administra-
tion, Secretary of State Antony
Blinken and Defense SecretaryLloyd Austin, arrived in Ukraine’s
capital last week.
During that visit, the United
States announced that it would
bring diplomats back to Ukraine,
though only on a daily basis and
not in the capital, as some Euro-
pean nations have done, amid
ongoing security concerns from
Russian shelling.
Diplomats will begin by mak-
ing day trips from Poland to
Ukraine’s western city of Lviv as a
first step in reopening the U.S.
Embassy, which was shuttered
before the invasion. Poland is a
member of NATO and the Euro-
pean Union. It has taken in more
than 3 million Ukrainian refu-gees, by far the most of any
nation, according to U.N. figures.
As with Pelosi’s visit, Zelensky
announced that Blinken and Aus-
tin would be coming before any
announcement from the United
States.
A number of world leaders and
top officials have visited Ukraine
to showcase their support since
Russia’s invasion, including Eu-
ropean Council President Charles
Michel, who met with Zelensky in
Kyiv last month, calling the capi-
tal the “heart of a free and demo-
cratic Europe.”
European Commission Presi-
dent Ursula von der Leyen and
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson have also made the jour-
ney — in addition to the Czech,
Polish and Slovenian prime min-
isters. In remarks during his un-
announced meeting with Zel-
ensky, Johnson said his visit was a
show of Britain’s “unwavering
support for the people of
Ukraine” and pledged further
support for the war effort.
A pair of Republican lawmak-
ers, Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.) and
Rep. Victoria Spartz (Ind.), visited
Ukraine in mid-April in a hastily
arranged visit on the invitation of
the Ukrainian government.
They were the first U.S. offi-
cials to visit Ukraine since the
invasion. Daines was visiting oth-
er parts of Eastern Europe and
made a last-minute switch to go
to Ukraine, and Spartz, the first
Ukrainian-born member of Con-
gress, was planning an unofficial
visit on her own, the New York
Times reported.
Despite bipartisan support for
Ukraine, some Republicans have
said they want to carefully exam-
ine the $33 billion figure. The
Biden administration has said it
plans to mount a “full-court
press” to secure the funding it has
pledged. “We are negotiating,”
Lee said at the news conference in
Poland. “That’s how democracy
works.”
After Johnson’s trip, the Rus-
sian government banned him and
other senior British politicians
from entering Russia, citing Brit-
ain’s “unprecedented hostile ac-
tions” over the war in Ukraine for
the decision.In surprise Kyiv trip, Pelosi vows support from U.S. ‘until the fight is done’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats are greeted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.