Current:Home > StocksPence meets with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in surprise trip -ValueCore
Pence meets with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in surprise trip
View
Date:2025-04-16 19:12:12
Former Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise trip to Ukraine Thursday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and tour Russian attack sites, bringing the message that he would stand by Ukraine.
"I have every confidence that the day will come when Ukraine's sovereignty is restored, their territorial integrity is restored," Pence told reporters.
"We need to make sure we provide the Ukrainian military with what they need to push back on and defeat Russian aggression here," Pence said.
After their closed-door meeting, Pence, the first GOP presidential candidate to visit Zelenskyy, expressed his unwavering support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy thanked the American people for their support and thanked Pence for visiting sites of some of the worst Russian attacks on Ukraine. Pence was also briefed on the current situation in Ukraine by officials, according to an adviser to the vice president.
The former vice president visited Bucha, one of the towns that has seen some of the most brutal attacks of the war. He laid flowers at a memorial and saw the trenches. Pence was told the trenches would be left in their current condition as a reminder of the price paid by Ukrainians to defend their homes. "We are with you," Pence told one soldier, a message he reiterated throughout his trip.
"We are with you," he said to Ukraine Foreign Ministry Rep. Denys Ludchak upon his arrival.
Pence also toured sites in Irpin that were destroyed by Russian forces and met with families before traveling to Kyiv.
An adviser to the former vice president said that he traveled to Ukraine with Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian relief organization. Edward Graham, the leader of the group, was with Pence when they were briefed at the Center for Protection of Children's rights on human rights violations in Ukraine over the course of the war.
Ukraine recently began its long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia, and U.S. officials have told CBS News that progress has been slow and uneven along the 600-mile front line that stretches all the way from the country's northern to southern borders. Ukrainian forces are facing stiffer Russian resistance than expected.
The former vice president believes Ukraine must have U.S. support in its defense against Russia's invasion.
"The fastest path to peace is to help Ukraine win the war," Pence said in February.
Pence and his wife Karen traveled to Ukraine in March 2022, also with Samaritan's Purse, and toured the Poland-Ukraine border, in the third week of Russia's invasion into Ukraine. At the time, he said that the Russian military had unleashed "unspeakable violence on the people of Ukraine."
Fernando Suarez contributed to this report.
- In:
- Ukraine
- Russia
CBS News reporter covering the intersection between politics and tech.
TwitterveryGood! (4)
Related
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Sensing AL Central opportunity, Guardians land three ex-Angels in MLB waiver wire frenzy
- Up First briefing: Labor Day travel; 9/11 trial; best summer video games
- Lionel Messi will miss one Inter Miami game in September for 2026 World Cup qualifying
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- After Maui’s wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water service
- North Carolina GOP legislator Paré running for Democrat-controlled US House seat
- Hyundai and LG will invest an additional $2B into making batteries at Georgia electric vehicle plant
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp has setback in hamstring injury recovery
Ranking
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Why 'Suits'? We dive into this summer's streaming hit
- FBI updates photo of University of Wisconsin bomber wanted for 53 years
- A look inside Donald Trump’s deposition: Defiance, deflection and the ‘hottest brand in the world’
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Pictures of Idalia's aftermath in Georgia, Carolinas show damage and flooding from hurricane's storm surge
- Post Malone Proudly Shows Results of His 55-Pound Weight Loss Journey in New Selfie
- Students with disabilities in Pennsylvania will get more time in school under settlement
Recommendation
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Is beer sold at college football games? Here's where you can buy it during the 2023 season
Where road rage is a way of life: These states have the most confrontational drivers, survey says
Weeks after the fire, the response in Maui shifts from a sprint to a marathon
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
A look inside Donald Trump’s deposition: Defiance, deflection and the ‘hottest brand in the world’
Maui wildfire survivors were left without life-saving medicine. A doctor stepped up to provide them for free.
Gabon coup attempt sees military chiefs declare election results cancelled and end to current regime