The speaker of the US House of Representatives said that he will not meet with Zelenskyi due to work and demands the dismissal of the ambassador of Ukraine to the US
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, said that he will not meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, because he could not find time for it due to his busy schedule. About it on your Facebook page reported Correspondent of “Voice of America” Kateryna Lisunova.
“I couldn’t schedule a meeting with Zelensky this week because I was very busy, as you probably noticed. And I won’t even be in town tomorrow. But if we did meet, I would discuss with him the matter related to the letter regarding Ambassador. This is a very unpleasant situation that creates tension in the relations between our countries at a very unfortunate moment for Ukraine, and I regret it.”, — said Johnson, answering the question whether Zelensky’s recent visit to Pennsylvania was the reason for the cancellation of the meeting.
Johnson also appealed to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, with the demand to immediately release the Ukrainian ambassador in Washington, Oksana Markarov. The reason for this decision was Zelensky’s recent visit to Pennsylvania, organized by Markarova, where he was accompanied only by representatives of the Democratic Party. Johnson considers this a violation of Ukraine’s neutral position and interference in the election campaign in support of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“After organizing a partisan campaign event in a key state [Pennsylvania] this week, Ambassador of Ukraine Oksana Markarova demonstrated that she cannot be trusted to serve this country honestly and effectively as a diplomat. President Zelenskyy must remove her immediately.”, – wrote the speaker of the Congress.
He recalled that Zelensky previously stated his intention to avoid interfering in the internal political processes of the United States and not to influence the choice of the American people before the elections. However, according to the speaker, Markarova ignored this principle by organizing an event in the state of Pennsylvania, which has great political significance, and invited only Democrats.
“Apparently that goal was abandoned this week when Ms. Markarova organized an event where you visited an American manufacturing facility. The facility is located in a politically contentious state run by a top political ally of Kamala Harris and did not include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited”, – emphasized Johnson.
He emphasized that such actions undermine the trust of the republicans in the Ukrainian delegation and call into question its ability to fairly and efficiently perform diplomatic duties. “This short-sighted political step has caused a loss of trust on the part of the Republicans and indicates the need for Ms. Markarova’s immediate dismissal from her position,” he added.
Johnson also noted that he had always opposed any foreign interference in US domestic politics.
“Support for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine remains bipartisan, but our relationship becomes unnecessarily strained and unnecessarily sour when candidates leading the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government. Such incidents cannot happen again. Thank you for your prompt attention. to this matter and I hope that you will take appropriate action immediately”, – he added.
