House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week after Zelensky was accused of interfering in U.S. elections to the benefit of the Democrat Party by touring an ammunition plant in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Johnson pointed the finger at Zelensky’s ambassador to the United States, who is said to have organized the trip.
“I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova,” Johnson said in a letter to Zelensky.
“As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being ‘captured by American domestic politics,’ and ‘influencing the choices of the American people’ ahead of the November election,” Johnson said. “Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.”
“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited,” Johnson continued.
Polls currently show former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris neck and neck in the state, which is home to the second-largest population of Ukrainian Americans in the U.S. at more than 122,000 people as of 2022.
“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Johnson said. “This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately.”
Johnson said that all countries should stay out of opining on or interfering in U.S. domestic policies and that by Zelensky doing so when he attacked Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) in a media interview, he “unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished” Ukraine’s relationship with the U.S.
“These incidents cannot be repeated,” he concluded. “Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and I trust you will take immediate action.”
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Zelensky appeared at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant on Sunday after being flown into the state by the U.S. Air Force — a flight paid for by U.S. taxpayers. He toured the factory with Governor Josh Shapiro (D), Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA).
Zelensky’s trip to the plant came after he attacked Vance in an interview with the New Yorker before making the trip to the U.S.
“My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how,” he said. “With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand.”
Zelensky said that Vance was “too radical” because he believes that Ukraine must “make a sacrifice” by losing some of its territory to bring its war with Russia to an end.
He said that he does not take Vance’s words seriously, but that his experience with Trump has been different, because Trump has pledged his support for Ukraine.
