Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with both the Senate and the House on Thursday, though he received a much stronger reception in the upper chamber.
All 100 senators greeted Zelensky in the Old Senate Chamber and showed near unanimous support for the embattled war leader.
In the House, Zelensky met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and a group of bipartisan House leaders.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that in the huddle, Zelensky “expressed gratitude and presented a vision, a plan and a request for support for the people of Ukraine.”
McCarthy denied a request from Zelensky to deliver an address to Congress, which the Ukrainian leader did on his last visit to Washington in December, saying they “didn’t have time.”
The Speaker maintained the Ukrainian leader received “exactly the same” treatment as leaders from the U.K. and Italy in prior visits.
The trip comes as U.S. security aid is running out for Kyiv, and Zelensky is looking to shore up support for a $24 billion package requested by President Biden.
But GOP lawmakers in the House are growing more and more skeptical of approving additional Ukraine aid.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, was cautious to say that Zelensky’s trip would sway the minds of any detractors in the House.
“I don’t think they all will,” he said of House GOP support for a Ukraine supplemental. “But we’ll have the majority.”
Zelensky also traveled to the Pentagon, where he and his wife laid flowers at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, and met with Biden at the White House.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
