President Volodymyr Zelensky, the minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba, attorney general Andrii Kostin, US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and senators Chris Coons and Rob Portman met in Kyiv. This is Portman's second visit to Ukraine: after their first visit, Rob Portman and Amy Klobuchar announced the need to recognize Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.
"We are here today to underscore the broad support that continues to exist in Congress for the Ukrainian people. We met with president Zelenskyy to discuss Ukraine's needs as it continues to defend itself against this brutal Russian invasion and to show American solidarity with the Ukrainian people," Rob Portman.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the delegates for all the help Ukraine receives from the United States. In turn, representatives of the Senate confirmed that this assistance really saves the lives of Ukrainians since on the same day the senators visited the World Food Program food distribution centre.
"We also visited the headquarters of Ukrenergo, one example of the Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the largest campaign against civilian energy infrastructure in human history. Russian attacks continue to damage the Ukrainian economy and put the lives of millions of Ukrainian civilians at risk as winter approaches. It is one more piece of the series of atrocities Russia has committed during this illegal war," senator Portman said on his website.
Earlier, Petr Fiala also visited the Ukrenergo plant and saw the destruction Russia inflicted on Ukraine's energy structure on the eve of winter. We remind you that because of these damages in Kyiv, there are many regular hours of emergency power outages. The city authorities are starting to launch heating points, where there will be electricity, and kyivans may come, get warm, drink hot tea, charge phones and receive medical care.
"We saw firsthand the resilience and strength of the Ukrainian people in the face of these atrocities, and they deserve our support," Rob Portman.
The senators said that all countries are obliged to unite their efforts around Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for the fact that our people now live.
