Zelenska declines invitation to US Congress because of Navalnaya
6 March 2024 11:53
First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska has declined an invitation to a joint session of the US Congress, which will be addressed by US President Joseph Biden. This was written by The Washington Post, Kommersant Ukrainian reports 
“According to officials familiar with the planning, the intention was to seat First Lady Jill Biden next to Zelenskaya and Yulia Navalnaya. The image of the two women, each a symbol of resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, would provide a powerful backdrop for President Biden’s speech at the joint session of Congress,”
– the newspaper writes.
However, the first lady of Ukraine refused to have such a neighbourhood. The journalists claim that Zelenska’s office declined the invitation, citing some urgent meetings between the first lady and orphanage children.
“A White House official said Zelenskaya’s decision was likely due to ‘scheduling conflicts’ and referred further questions to Zelenskaya’s office, adding that seating was a detail that was being finalised towards the end of the process,”
– the newspaper writes.
Navalnaya herself declined the invitation, citing fatigue.
“Yulia was indeed invited and considered, but I think everyone forgets the circumstances against which the events unfolded. Yulia’s husband died two weeks ago. All this time she has been travelling. Today is the first day she is home at all. Like any other person, she needs time to recover, so while she really appreciates the invitation, she needs to recover at least a little bit now,”
– said Navalnaya’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.
Delay in funding for Ukraine
The US Congress has been unable to agree on a military aid bill for Ukraine since autumn 2023. President Joe Biden has proposed a national security bill worth more than $100 billion, including $61 billion to help Kyiv.
The document was not approved by Republicans, who want to include in the bill tighter border and migration measures on the US-Mexico border.
US President Joe Biden said he would not support a bill to help Israel initiated by Republicans in the House of Representatives without taking into account Ukraine’s needs.
on 13 February, the US Senate passed a bill unblocking aid to Ukraine. It provides for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan totalling $95.34 billion, of which $61 billion is earmarked for Ukraine.
The bill now needs to be supported by the US House of Representatives, where Republicans are also refusing to vote for aid to Ukraine.
