In Kyiv, Bipartisan US Congress Delegation Vows to Get Ukraine Aid Through

KYIV (Reuters) – A bipartisan delegation of U.S. Congress members came to Kyiv on Friday to meet with Ukraine’s president as they sought to give assurances they would do their part to get crucial, stalled military aid legislation through the House of Representatives.

The delegation consisted of four members of the House Intelligence Committee: Republicans Mike Turner and French Hill, along with Democrats Jason Crow and Abigail Spanberger.

“The United States is working diligently in the House of Representatives and the Senate to secure the funding that is necessary in 2024,” Turner told journalists at a press conference before the delegation left to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The U.S. has been Ukraine’s largest supplier of military assistance as Kyiv fights off Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion, but that help is now on hold while Congress wrangles over a bill providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The $95.34 billion bill advanced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday after Republicans blocked previous compromise legislation.

“It’s delayed this year during the course of not only a presidential election year, but also controversies in the House about politics,” Hill said.

The lawmakers also met with officials from the SBU and GUR intelligence agencies, the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv said.

“We stand with Ukraine not just because we understand that defending freedom and democracy around the world is an American value, but we stand with Ukraine because it’s also in America’s interests to do so,” said Crow.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.