Zelenskyy invites leader of Democrats in House of Representatives to visit Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Sunday, 28 April, that he has invited House Democratic Caucus leader Hakeem Jeffries to visit Ukraine.

Jeffries played a crucial role in assisting Speaker of the House Republican Mike Johnson in passing the foreign aid bill, which includes $61 billion in assistance to Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy noted on Twitter (Х) that he thanked Jeffries for his personal role in Congress's adoption of the law on aid to Ukraine.

"I appreciate the bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, as well as President Biden's leadership. I invited Congressman Jeffries to visit Ukraine," he said.

In addition, Zelenskyy discussed the urgent need to strengthen Ukrainian air defence with Patriot systems to protect Ukrainian cities and hromadas [an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories], the economy and critical infrastructure from Russian air terror.

The invitation came a few days after Zelenskyy announced that he had invited Speaker Johnson to visit Ukraine. 

Jeffries played a central role in the fight for approval of foreign aid, pressuring Johnson to put the bill on the agenda for aid to Ukraine and providing Democratic votes.

Jeffries even allowed Democrats on the House of Representatives Committee on Rules to vote for the package, which was an extremely rare moment.

Earlier, the Democratic Party stated that they would not support the resignation of Speaker of the House Republican Mike Johnson if far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene brought the issue to a vote.