US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has paid a surprise visit to Kiev to personally reassure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Washington’s support amid the conflict with Russia, it was revealed on Sunday.
Zelensky shared a video on Twitter in which he is seen greeting Pelosi and other US lawmakers outside the presidential palace in the Ukrainian capital.
The highest-ranking US official to come to Kiev since the start of the fighting, Pelosi was accompanied by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern and Rep. Jason Crow. The House speaker is formally second in line to the presidency after the vice president.
The sides then held brief talks, during which Zelensky reiterated the need for continued US military support.
Pelosi told the Ukrainian leader that the US lawmakers were visiting Kiev “to say thank you for your fight for freedom.”
“Your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” she promised.
Zelensky also used the opportunity to award Pelosi with the Order of Princess Olga, the third grade, a Ukrainian civil decoration bestowed upon women for personal merits in politics, science, culture and humanitarian areas.