Former Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise trip to Ukraine on June 29 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid the country’s ongoing war with Russia.
The move makes him the first Republican presidential hopeful to meet with the Ukrainian leader since the war began.
Pence made the trip with the Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse. In addition to his meeting with Zelenskyy, his agenda for the day included an update on local human rights violations, security briefings from Ukrainian officials, and visits to various sites to honor fallen Ukrainians.
“I believe America’s the leader of the free world,” Pence told NBC News in an exclusive interview. “But coming here just as a private citizen, being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.”…