WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to visit the Capitol and meet with senators Thursday, a Senate leadership aide said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will host an all-senators meeting with Zelenskyy at 10 a.m. Thursday, the aide said. A location is still to be determined.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, a person familiar with the plans has said. And he plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City this week on his trip to the U.S., a senior Ukrainian official said.
Biden last met with Zelenskyy in July at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
“I hope we finally have put to bed the notion about whether or not Ukraine is welcome in NATO. It’s going to happen,” Biden said in remarks before their bilateral meeting. “We’re moving — you’re all moving in the right direction. I think it’s just a matter of getting by the next few months here.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv this month, meeting with Zelenskyy and senior Ukrainian officials to “demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia’s aggression,” a State Department spokesperson said.
When Blinken visited Kyiv, the State Department announced additional U.S. aid, including $100 million in foreign military financing, $90.5 million in humanitarian demining assistance and $300 million to support law enforcement efforts in liberated regions.
Zelenskyy last addressed a joint meeting of Congress in December, pleading for continued support as Republicans prepared to take control of the House, where aid to Ukraine was expected to come under more scrutiny and opposition.
“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” he told U.S. lawmakers. “Let the world see that the United States is here.”
“Your decisions can save millions of people,” he added.
Julie Tsirkin reported from Washington and Summer Concepcion from New York.
