ReutersUS House Speaker Mike Johnson has demanded that Ukraine fire its ambassador to Washington as the conflict between the Republican Party and Volodymyr Zelensky escalates.
Johnson’s intervention comes after President Zelensky toured a weapons plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania – President Joe Biden’s hometown in a key swing state – with several leading Democrats.
In a public letter, the Republican leader said the visit was “intended to help Democrats” and claimed it amounted to “election interference.”
The spat threatens to overshadow Zelensky’s meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday, during which he will present a “plan for victory” in his country’s war against Russia.
Since arriving in the United States on Sunday, Zelensky has stepped up efforts to persuade the United States and other allies to provide more support to Ukraine as it fends off Russian advances.
On Thursday, Biden announced that the US would send $7.9bn (£5.9bn) in military aid to Ukraine, part of a wave of assistance as his presidency draws to a close.
The aid, part of a $61 billion package passed by Congress in April, includes additional Patriot air defense missiles and long-range munitions.
The weapons package will be approved through a presidential withdrawal authorization and will draw on existing Pentagon stockpiles to deliver the weapons more quickly.
Congressional Republicans blocked the Biden administration’s $61 billion military plan for months earlier this year before finally relenting and passing the bill in April. Before that, arms shipments to Ukraine had dried up for several months.
The United States has been Ukraine’s largest foreign donor, spending $56 billion on defense to date.
In response to the aid package, Zelensky thanked the United States and said he was “grateful to Joe Biden, the US Congress and both parties.”
The Ukrainian president said the aid would be used “in the most effective and transparent manner” to achieve “Ukraine’s victory, a just and lasting peace and transatlantic security.”
Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine continued while Zelensky was in the United States.
The regions of Sumy, Odessa and kyiv were all attacked overnight, leaving one woman dead in Odessa and many injured.
In the capital, air raid sirens and explosions from Ukrainian air defenses continued for hours.
“I was woken up by the sound of the Shahed drone. I got up and saw the reflection in the windows, how a big ball of fire was falling,” said Maryna, a 31-year-old mother of two.
Zelensky had planned to present his priorities outlined in Thursday’s statement to both presidential candidates: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
However, a Donald Trump campaign official said the Republican candidate would not meet with the Ukrainian leader during his tour of the United States this week.
Trump and Zelensky have long had a contentious relationship. In 2019, Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on charges that he pressured the Ukrainian president to dig up compromising information about a political rival.
He has often echoed Russian arguments about war. At a campaign event on Wednesday, he derided Zelensky as “the best salesman on the planet” and accused the Ukrainian leader of refusing to “make a deal” with Moscow.
At an earlier rally on Tuesday, Trump also praised Russia’s military capabilities, saying: “They beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon – that’s what they do, they fight.”
The former president’s comments come amid a growing feud between Zelensky and the Republican Party over his visit to a munitions plant in Biden’s hometown of Scranton in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
During his visit, Zelensky appeared alongside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and several other prominent Democrats. House Speaker Johnson accused the president of taking part in a “partisan campaign event” intended to help Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Meanwhile, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee had already announced it would investigate whether Zelensky’s trip was an attempt to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Congressional Republicans blocked the Biden administration’s $61 billion military plan for months earlier this year before finally relenting and passing the legislation in April.
Before that, arms deliveries to Ukraine had dried up for several months.
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