For months, Ukrainian officials have carefully navigated the turbulent partisan politics in the United States leading up to November’s elections, saying that they could work with either a Democratic or Republican administration.
But on Wednesday night, Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, called for Ukraine to fire its ambassador to Washington, accusing her of meddling in American election affairs.
In a public letter addressed to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Mr. Johnson demanded the dismissal of the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, citing her role in organizing a visit by Mr. Zelensky to an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pa. Mr. Zelensky toured the factory this week and thanked workers for manufacturing shells sent to his country’s embattled forces.
Mr. Johnson criticized the visit for taking place in a key battleground state in the company of Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who supports Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential bid. The speaker noted that no Republicans were invited.
“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Mr. Johnson wrote in the letter on Wednesday.
The same day, James Comer, a Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, announced that he had launched an investigation into the visit, saying it was a partisan event paid for with taxpayer funds.
Ukraine had not responded to Mr. Johnson’s demands about its ambassador as of Thursday morning.
The complaints are likely to complicate Mr. Zelensky’s primary objective this week: to push Washington to increase its financial and military aid to Kyiv, as part of his “victory plan” to force Russia to the negotiating table. The Ukrainian leader will hold several meetings in Congress on Thursday and is also expected to meet with President Biden at the White House.
The Ukrainian authorities have long tried to remain neutral in the American presidential campaign, although they have built bridges in both camps to advance their interests. Republicans have been skeptical about providing support to Ukraine, and Donald J. Trump’s vice-presidential choice, JD Vance, has been deeply critical of previous United States aid packages to Kyiv.
Still, relations with the Republican camp have deteriorated in recent weeks as the U.S. election campaign picked up pace, with Mr. Trump increasingly denouncing American aid to Ukraine while touting a plan, for which he has offered no details, to quickly broker a peace deal.
In an interview published on Sunday with The New Yorker, Mr. Zelensky questioned that plan, which many in Kyiv fear would leave Russia in control of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory. He also described Mr. Vance as “too radical.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Zelensky of “refusing” to negotiate a peace deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“The president of Ukraine is in our country. He is making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me,” Mr. Trump said during a campaign event in North Carolina. “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal: Zelensky.”
The post Johnson, House Speaker, Demands That Ukraine Fire Its U.S. Ambassador appeared first on New York Times.
