STORY: :: Zelenskiy awards medals to Senate leaders
and invites House Speaker Johnson to Kyiv
:: July 10, 2024
:: Washington, DC
:: Volodymyr Zelinskiy
Ukrainian President
:: Rep. Mike Johnson
(R) Speaker of the House
JOURNALIST OFF CAMERA: ''President, have you invited the Speaker to Kyiv?''
ZELINSKIY: "We just started (INAUDIBLE)."
JOHNSON: "He did, yes, he did."
ZELINSKIY: "Just now."
JOURNALIST OFF CAMERA: ''Will you go?''
JOHNSON: ''We sure like to. The schedule is pretty tight through the election process so it's difficult to find the time to go but I would certainly like to.''
Zelenskiy, who is in Washington for this week's NATO summit, met with leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives and members of committees involved in defense, spending, diplomacy and national security.
The visit comes amid deep uncertainty about this year's U.S. presidential election, which pits incumbent Democrat Joe Biden, a strong supporter of aid to Ukraine, against the Republican Trump, who has expressed skepticism about the amount of aid given.
Zelenskiy awarded the Order of Merit of Ukraine to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell before having lunch with a group of Democratic and Republican senators. He later sat down with the Republican House of Representatives speaker, Mike Johnson, telling reporters he had just invited Johnson to Kyiv.
Johnson, a close Trump ally, said it would be difficult to find the time for a trip before the November election, when every seat in the House will be up for grabs and his fellow Republicans hope to preserve or expand their narrow majority.
"We'd sure like to. The schedule's pretty tight through the election for us, so it's difficult to find the time to go, but we'd certainly like to," Johnson said.
