US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi voiced support for Ukraine’s “fight for freedom” at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on a visit to Kyiv, US and Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.
“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, according to a video from the Ukrainian presidency.
Zelensky tweeted: “Thank you to the United States for helping protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state.”
“The US is leading strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression,” he said.
The trip by a Congressional delegation had not been previously announced.
“Our delegation proudly delivered the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package,” Pelosi’s office said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden last week proposed a huge $33-billion package for arming and supporting Ukraine.
Biden also outlined proposed new laws to allow using luxury assets stripped from Russian oligarchs to compensate Ukraine for the destruction wreaked by the invading Russians.
“When we return to the United States, we will do so further informed, deeply inspired and ready to do what is needed to help the Ukrainian people as they defend democracy for their nation and for the world,” Pelosi’s statement continued.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv last month.
Meanwhile, at least 20 civilians including several children were able to leave a badly battered steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday in what could be the start of a long-awaited, larger evacuation of the last holdout in the Russian-held city.
Earlier efforts at evacuations from the Azovstal steel plant —where local fighters say they and hundreds of civilians are still sheltering in brutal conditions – had been futile.
Ukrainian fighters of the Azov regiment, which has been defending the site, said 20 civilians had left, possibly for the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, about 225 kilometers to the northwest.
Russia’s Tass news agency carried a similar report, though putting the number of evacuees at 25.
A United Nations-planned evacuation had been mapped out, though it was unclear whether Saturday’s evacuation was UN-led and whether further evacuations were imminent. There were no immediate details on the condition of the evacuees.
Zelensky said in a video Saturday evening said Kyiv was “doing everything to ensure that the evacuation mission from Mariupol is carried out.”
Fresh satellite imagery by private US firm Maxar taken on Friday showed a devastated Mariupol, with almost all of Azovstal destroyed.
The apparent ceasefire in Mariupol took place as Russian attacks continued unabated across Ukraine, most heavily in the fiercely disputed eastern regions, but with attacks as far west as Odessa, on the Black Sea coast.