US House Speaker McCarthy declines Zelensky invitation to visit Ukraine
- Ukraine’s president invited top US lawmaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, to show him how US aid is being put to use against Russia
- A sizeable minority of Republicans in Congress have expressed opposition to US arms and financial aid to Ukraine
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he has no plans to visit Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky extended an invitation.
In an interview with CNN, Zelensky asked McCarthy, a Republican, to see the situation in Ukraine first-hand.
“Mr McCarthy, he has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here … Then after that, make your assumptions,” Zelensky said in the CNN interview broadcast on Wednesday.
The United States has extended nearly US$32 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022, but some far-right Republicans have balked at sending more.
McCarthy became speaker of the House of Representatives in January, making him the top Republican in the US legislature, capable of impeding Democratic President Joe Biden’s strong aid programme for Kyiv.
Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv last month to show US solidarity with Ukraine one-year after the conflict began as have other top US officials and some members of Congress.
McCarthy’s Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, visited Kyiv in May 2022 to demonstrate her support.
Asked about Zelensky’s invitation, McCarthy told CNN he did not need to travel to the country and would get information in other ways.
“I will continue to get my briefings and others, but I don’t have to go to Ukraine or Kyiv to see it,” he said.
While McCarthy has not opposed the aid, he has said more than once that Congress should not be writing “blank cheques” to support the war without close scrutiny.
Meanwhile a sizeable minority of Republicans in Congress have expressed opposition to arms and financial aid to Ukraine.
Some have cited the need to reduce the US budget deficit, while others oppose supporting Ukraine generally.
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“My point has always been, I won’t provide a blank cheque for anything,” McCarthy told CNN.
“From that perspective, I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank cheque or not,” he said.
“China can’t tell me where and when I can go,” McCarthy said.
Beijing said it was “gravely concerned” by the news of Tsai and McCarthy’s planned meeting, and that China “firmly opposes” any official exchanges between Taiwan and the US in any form.
A trip in August by Pelosi sparked condemnation from China, which responded with massive military drills around the island.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse
