House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and giving the Ukrainians an open-ended U.S. commitment to fighting the Russians.
“Your fight is a fight for everyone, and so our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi told him.
Zelensky was tickled pink. “This shows that the United States today is a leader in strong support for Ukraine during the war against the aggression of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.
“We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom. … Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi told Zelensky while they met in Kyiv, in a video released by the Ukrainian leader.
The full congressional delegation included a number of House leaders: Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chair of the House Intelligence Committee; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Jason, D-Colo.; Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Bill Keating, D-Mass.
“You all are welcome,” Zelensky told the delegation following their initial meeting.
Pelosi and the Democrats who accompanied her did not announce the visit beforehand, although they probably had some kind of protection until they landed.
Russia has recently escalated its warnings to the U.S. for providing advanced weaponry to the Ukrainians, suggesting that the military aid could have “unpredictable consequences” and that the shipments themselves could become targets.
“Let me speak for myself: Do not be bullied by bullies,” Pelosi said at the news conference. “If they are making threats, you cannot back down.”
Zelensky used Twitter to thank the U.S. for “helping protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state. The U.S. is leading strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.” He added: “We’ll win, and we’ll win together.”
Eventually, those Russian threats are going to be more than just idle musings. Then what? What happens if Russia starts targeting shipments of arms going to Ukraine from NATO?
On Sunday, Moscow announced that it had blown up U.S. weapons sitting on a runway in Odessa.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday it had struck at weapons supplied to Ukraine by the United States and European countries and destroyed a runway at a military airfield near the Ukrainian city of Odesa.
The ministry said it used high-precision Onyx missiles to strike the airfield after Ukraine accused Russia of knocking out a newly-constructed runway at the main airport of Odesa.
Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said Russia had used a Bastion missile, launched from Crimea.
Biden will now have to take measures to protect the shipments. Every escalation that Putin makes must be matched by Biden and vice versa. It’s a process with no end. And with Pelosi also talking about a Forever War, perhaps someone should start talking about a way out before we’re all trapped.
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