Delegation of US congressmen from both parties arrives in Ukraine to discuss aid bill

A delegation from the US Congress arrived in Kyiv on Friday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other members of the Ukrainian leadership to discuss the fate of a bill on multibillion-dollar aid to Ukraine that is stuck in Congress.

According to the US Ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, the delegation includes members of the House of Representatives from both major parties.

The delegation is headed by Republican Mike Turner, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and is joined by Republicans French Hill and Zach Nunn and Democrats Jason Crow and Abigail Spanberger.

"We're here today to tell President Zelenskyy and others we're meeting with that the United States fully supports Ukraine and that the United States is working tirelessly in the House and Senate to secure the funding necessary for the United States to support Ukraine's defence against Russian aggression," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Mike Turner as saying at a briefing in Kyiv.

Turner assured that the majority of congressmen are in favour of continuing to help Ukraine.

French Hill noted that polls in the US show that the American people do not want Putin to win in Ukraine.

"The people know that this is bad not only for Europe, for the people of Ukraine, for Ukraine's sovereignty, but for the world," Hill added.

For his part, Jason Crowe, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, stressed that the purpose of the delegation's visit was to "send a very strong and very simple message: the people of America support Ukraine."

"We support Ukraine not only because we understand that defending freedom and democracy around the world is an American value, but we support Ukraine because it is also in America's interest. With less than 5% of our annual defence budget, we have helped Ukraine secure a stable and prosperous Europe. We helped Ukraine destroy more than half of the Russian army. We have helped Ukraine protect our NATO allies," he stressed.

Crowe also noted that the United States has helped Ukraine ensure stable food prices and a stable food supply around the world.

"All of these things are in the interests of the American people, and the American people see that. And we are taking that message back to our districts. We look forward to continuing to meet with President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian government officials to discuss the way forward and what needs to be done to ensure our strong partnership and our strong alliance," he said.

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Abigail Spanberger also noted:

"The investment and support of the American people in this fight, in this effort, is something we've been proud to do, and I hope we continue to do so. We've seen the success of Ukraine, which has regained over 50% of the land that Russia seized after the invasion two years ago. This is impressive. We see that, and that's the reason we want to continue to support," she said.