Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit the Capitol on Wednesday, reports claim.
Sources familiar with the matter said Zelensky is set to appear at the Capitol in person to address a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber, according to multiple reports. However, some sources told Semafor that the visit is dependent on several factors, including security, and the details haven’t been finalized yet.
“Fox is told that Ukrainian leaders Zelenskyy physically coming to Capitol Hill tomorrow night for Joint Meeting of Congress in the House chamber,” Fox News’s senior congressional correspondent, Chad Pergram, tweeted minutes after a similar announcement from Punchbowl News.
RUSSIAN FORCES ‘BREAKING’ THEMSELVES, ZELENSKY SAYS IN VISIT TO FRONT LINES
Fox is told that Ukrainian leaders Zelenskyy physically coming to Capitol Hill tomorrow night for Joint Meeting of Congress in the House chamber
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2022
Also hinting at the visit were remarks from Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Bakhmut, a city under Russian assault in Donetsk, during Zelensky’s visit on Tuesday. A video shows a soldier handing Zelensky a signed Ukrainian flag, telling him to give it to Congress as thanks.
⚡️ The military in Bakhmut asked Volodymyr Zelenskyi to hand over the Ukrainian flag to the US Congress as a sign of gratitude for the supplied weapons. pic.twitter.com/fS46wQwDMQ
— FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) December 20, 2022
Further hinting at the visit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asked “all Members to be physically present at our session Wednesday night” in a letter to colleagues on Tuesday, requesting that they “please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”
When asked about the potential of Zelensky visiting, Pelosi said it “would bring honor to Congress” while calling him a “complete and total hero.”
Speaker Pelosi, on a potential Zelensky visit to the Capitol on Wednesday: “it would bring honor to Congress” pic.twitter.com/fiVewAZqlx
— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) December 20, 2022
If confirmed, the visit would be remarkable as Zelensky’s first foreign visit since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
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The Ukrainian president is expected to make a direct plea to Congress for more aid as fears of a renewed Russian offensive against Kyiv take hold of the embattled nation’s high command. Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have also crippled the country’s power grid, spelling a difficult winter ahead.
