Pelosi promises US support ‘until the fight is done’
US HOUSE speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine until the ‘fight is done’, after she became the highest-ranking American politician to visit the country since Russia invaded.
Mrs Pelosi led a delegation of five US lawmakers to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kyiv at the weekend.
She said the US would not be ‘bullied’ into withdrawing its support of Ukraine by Russia. The visit came days after President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve $33billion (€31billion) in aid for Ukraine.
Ms Pelosi told Mr Zelensky during their meeting on Saturday that US support would continue ‘until the fight is done’.
After further talks in Poland yesterday, she insisted the US would hold its resolve despite veiled threats from the Kremlin about nuclear war.
She added: ‘Let me speak for myself. Do not be bullied by bullies. If they are making threats, you cannot back down.’
Congressman Jim McGovern, part of the delegation, said Vladimir Putin needed to be held to account for his ‘war crimes’, adding: ‘If we don’t, the likelihood of him or somebody else doing the same thing increases.’
Ms Pelosi, a California Democrat who is next in line to the presidency after the vice president, also praised the courage of the Ukrainian people.
She said she was ‘dazzled’ by Mr Zelensky’s expertise on the issues at hand and described him at their meeting as ‘a remarkable master class of leadership’.
Speaking to reporters yesterday in Poland, the delegation members offered continuing long-term military, humanitarian and economic support, vowing that the US would stand with Ukraine until it defeated Russia.
‘This is a time we stand up for democracy or we allow autocracy to rule the day,’ said Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York.
Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, a military veteran and a member of the House intelligence and armed services committee, said he came to Ukraine with three areas of focus: ‘Weapons, weapons and weapons.’
It comes as Poland’s armed forces said yesterday that military exercises involving thousands of Nato soldiers have begun.
Poland’s military appealed to the public not to publish information or photos of the columns of military vehicles expected to move through the country in the coming weeks.
It warned that ‘ill-considered activity’ could harm the alliance’s security.
‘Let’s be aware of the dangers!’ the statement said.
The Polish army said in a statement that 18,000 soldiers from over 20 countries were taking part in the Defender Europe 2022 and Swift Response 2022 exercises in Poland and eight other countries.
Meanwhile, German chancellor Olaf Scholz has described a pacifist approach to the war in Ukraine as ‘outdated’ and pledged to continue to support the country with money, aid and weapons.
Speaking at a May Day rally in Düsseldorf, Mr Scholz said: ‘I respect all pacifism, I respect all attitudes, but it must seem cynical to a citizen of Ukraine to be told to defend himself against Putin’s aggression without weapons.’
Mr Scholz has brushed aside criticism that his government is not doing enough to help Ukraine defend itself. Even though Germany reversed its policy of not sending weapons to countries at war, Mr Scholz has been accused of being slow to come to Ukraine’s aid.