Mitch McConnell leads Senate GOP delegation in surprise visit Ukraine, meets President Zelensky - The Washington Post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Saturday with a U.S. Senate delegation led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in Kyiv, calling the visit “a powerful signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine from the U.S. Congress and the American people,” his presidential office said.In Washington, however, a new round of funding for Ukraine’s battle against the Russian invasion is held up in the Senate because of a GOP member’s objection.In a video posted by Zelensky to his Instagram page, McConnell and fellow Republican Sens. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, assessed that Ukraine “appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv.” It added that the Kremlin has “likely decided to withdraw fully” from its positions around the city amid spirited Ukrainian counterattacks and limited Russian reinforcements.The unannounced trip to Kyiv by McConnell’s delegation continued a parade of visits to Ukraine in recent weeks by U.S. and allied government officials, lawmakers and dignitaries to show support for the war-ravaged country and its embattled leader.Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Zelensky on April 24 in what was at the time the highest-level visit by an American delegation since the start of the war.