A delegation of House Republicans led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) visited Kyiv on Tuesday, a day after President Joe Biden made the same trek.
The roughly half a dozen House Republican group met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin during the trip that was intended for them to gain more granular, "firsthand" knowledge of the war, according to an aid to McCaul.
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McCaul was joined by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Keith Self (R-TX), Max Miller (R-OH), and Jake Ellzey (R-TX). The visit was also meant to further Republican plans for oversight of the United States's response to the war in Ukraine and featured discussions about alleged Russian war crimes, according to Fox News.
During an exchange with Zelensky caught on camera, McCaul praised the Ukrainian leader for exhibiting strength amid the onslaught from Moscow.
Thank you Chairman @RepMcCaul, Congressmen @DarrellIssa, @RepKeithSelf, @MaxMillerOH, @JakeEllzey for your visit to Kyiv, meeting with President @ZelenskyyUa, and for important signals of support to Ukraine, and our fight for Freedom! Together we win ???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/yVJtIQpKOU
— Oksana Markarova (@OMarkarova) February 21, 2023
Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday and commemorated the approaching one-year anniversary of the bloody conflict. The president proclaimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin badly miscalculated and that his "war of conquest is failing." He then traveled to Warsaw, Poland, where he delivered a similar message Tuesday.
McCaul contended that Biden's "photo-op" was insufficient and that the president needs to ramp up lethal military aid. The president revealed that the U.S. will deliver $500 billion in additional aid to Ukraine.
"It’s good President Biden visited Ukraine, but a photo-op isn’t enough," McCaul told Fox News. "He needs to get Ukraine the weapons they need to win now, especially [Army Tactical Missile Systems], instead of slow-rolling them."
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The new aid package is expected to feature anti-tank missiles, howitzers, and more, but not new advance weapons. So far, the U.S. has announced over $100 billion in both military in humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.
Some Republicans, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have decried recent U.S. assistance provisions as a waste of taxpayer dollars and demanded increased oversight over how the aid money is being spent.