May 1, 2022

Pelosi Vows Unwavering Support for Ukraine in Unannounced Meeting With Zelenskyy

The House speaker is the highest-ranking US official to meet thus far with Ukraine’s wartime president.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 30 in Kyiv, Ukraine.The Presidential Office of Ukraine/AP Images

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday led a congressional delegation in an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Democratic Party leader, the highest-ranking US lawmaker to visit Ukraine’s capital since Russia’s invasion, said in a statement that the meeting sends “an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine.”

Pelosi said Zelenskyy conveyed the need for continued security, economic, and humanitarian assistance from the United States as it enters the third month of an unprovoked, brutal assault by Russian missiles and ground troops. The delegation of six Democratic lawmakers “proudly delivered the message” that additional support is on the way, Pelosi said, adding that Congress will work to “transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package.”

The delegation’s visit came just days after Biden urged Congress to approve an additional $33 billion. In a White House statement Thursday, Biden said that “the cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen.” Every day, he added, Ukrainians pay a price, and “the price they pay is with their lives for this fight. ” 

Pelosi’s and the delegation met with Zelenskyy and his top aides for three hours late Saturday to “get a first-hand assessment of the war effort to date.” Zelenskyy’s request for more resources from the United States was needed to “address the devastating human toll taken on the Ukrainian people by Putin’s diabolic invasion,” Pelosi’s statement said. (Earlier in the week Moscow confirmed it had carried out a missile attack in Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary General to the capital.) 

After the delegation’s visit to Ukraine, they traveled to Poland where Pelosi said in a press briefing that “America stands with Ukraine until victory is won.” She described Zelenskyy’s wartime leadership as “dazzling.”

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate