Washington.- House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire his country’s ambassador to the United States, after the president visited a munitions plant in Pennsylvania and sparked criticism from Republicans who called it a political move.
Johnson’s request came as Zelenskyy headed to the United Nations headquarters in New York ahead of a visit to Washington, where he is scheduled to brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday on the Ukrainian war effort and then meet with President Joe Biden at the White House.
“The visit was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy.
Johnson, who is close to Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, said no Republicans were invited to the plant visit organized by Ambassador Oksana Markarova to Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is Biden’s hometown.
Johnson called the visit “an intentionally political maneuver” and said it “has caused Republicans to lose confidence in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to serve fairly and effectively as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately.”
The House speaker’s tough demand for the swift removal of Markarova, a well-received diplomat in Washington who has been a constant presence on Capitol Hill since the start of the war — even being invited to the House visitors’ gallery during key speeches — comes at a daunting time for Ukraine as Zelenskyy works to secure U.S. support for the war effort in an election year.
While Biden and Democratic lawmakers have largely supported Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, sending billions of dollars in U.S. aid to buy weapons and support services, Republicans have been deeply divided. Trump has steered the GOP toward a new “America First” movement that generally prefers to limit U.S. involvement abroad, and often speaks well of Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.
Johnson said support for ending Russia’s war with Ukraine “remains bipartisan, but our relationship is being unnecessarily tested,” referring to the Ukrainian government’s comments about Trump’s presidential ticket with Sen. JD Vance.
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