WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the U.S. Capitol hours after Lindsey Graham’s funeral to an unusually attentive audience.Half the Senate gathered for the closed-door meeting. Senators set their mobile phones down and focused their attention. Along with representatives from the House, they listened as Zelenskyy fielded questions about his country’s strategy in the long war against Russia.Zelenskyy told them how Ukraine was repelling the Russian invasion, taking the fight to Moscow, but in need of U.S. help with Patriot interceptor missiles and licensing agreements, expanded access to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet — and most immediately ahead of a Senate vote that July night — a punishing Russia sanctions package to deprive President Vladimir Putin of the oil and gas revenue fueling the war machine.
“He said, ‘We need this legislation,’” recalled Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in an interview. “Both the troops and the Ukrainian people need this for morale.”“You could feel palpably in the room a sense that — Zelenskyy’s confidence of their ability to hold and to persevere,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a former Democratic leader. “There was a sense in the room that, look, we can be successful.”The massive Russian sanctions package from the late Sen. Graham represented the most ambitious effort to support Ukraine since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. After two years of legislative inaction, it would be one of the few moves from Congress since lawmakers sent supplemental aid funding to Ukraine in 2024.
