Ukrainian First Lady begins high-profile visit to Washington

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department on Monday as she began a series of high-profile appearances in the U.S. capital that will include an in-person address to Congress as well as a meeting with her counterpart Jill Biden, TURAN's U.S, correspondent reports.

"This really was an opportunity for the Secretary to underscore the United States’ comprehensive and enduring commitment to the people of Ukraine,'' State Department spokesperson Ned Price said following Zelenska's meeting with Blinken.

The Secretary, according to Price, "had an opportunity to commend the first lady’s work to support the many civilians, Ukrainian civilians, who have been in different ways impacted by this brutal war against Ukraine. He noted that our embassy in Kyiv looks forward to continuing to work with the first lady to support some of her programs." Price said in response to TURAN's question during the daily press briefing.

Zelenska, according to Price, "has a really tremendous mental health initiative for citizens affected by the war."

"USAID has supported this as well. And he ultimately reiterated that we remain committed to helping the people of Ukraine recover, to helping them rebuild, and that we will continue to stand by their side going forward," he added.

The White House released guidance on Monday evening saying that Jill Biden will today welcome Zelenska on the South Lawn and that the two will participate in a bilateral meeting this afternoon.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her turn announced that Zelenska will address Congress on Wednesday from the congressional auditorium in the Capitol Visitor Center. 

Zelenska’s trip outside the country comes as Russian forces continue to wage a bloody military campaign focused on Ukraine’s east.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Putin remained defiant over Western sanctions, insisting that Russia "won't let itself be cut off."

Asked by TURAN whether Putin's statement was wishful thinking, State Department's Ned Price said that Russia "has been economically, politically, diplomatically, financially isolated from the rest of the world. And it has been isolated from the rest of the world precisely because of the decisions that President Putin has made - namely, the decision to wage this unjustified, illegal, brutal war against the people of Ukraine."

"It is always a bit surprising to us to hear any degree of surprise from senior Russian officials that they might find themselves in these economic, financial, political, diplomatic dire straits because we were very clear and consistent in our warnings prior to February 24th that if Vladimir Putin went forward with his plans for invasion precisely the types of costs that he would incur, and those are the costs that the Russian Federation has incurred", Price added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.