Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Valeriy Chaly held a meeting with co-Chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, U.S. Representatives Marcy Kaptur, Sander Levin, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Andy Harris. 

Ambassador Chaly thanked the Congressmen for their proactive and unwavering support of Ukraine, in particular for initiating and facilitating the passing, in recent years in particular, of legislation to assist Ukraine in counteracting Russian aggression. The Ambassador noted the great unanimity shown by the U.S. House of Representatives during the vote on July 25, 2017 on strengthening of sanctions against Russia as a strong message of support to the people of Ukraine fighting the Kremlin aggression.

Valeriy Chaly emphasized the importance for the U.S assistance to Ukraine to further enhance, including through provision of lethal weapons of a defensive nature and continued support of reforms. As he mentioned in this context, he counts on assistance for Ukraine in the U.S. FY 2018 budget along the lines of the Pentagon, Department of State, and USAID to be not lower than in previous years. The Ambassador asked the Congressmen to support also inclusion in the U.S. FY 2018 budget of funds for treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers in the United States’ medical facilities.

Ambassador Chaly asked the Congressmen for support in passing a resolution recognizing the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

The Ambassador and Congressmen also discussed the prospects for advancing the bilateral interparliamentary cooperation in the context of implementation of the memorandum on cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada and U.S. Congress signed in July 2017.

The Caucus leaders expressed their determination to continue to keep the support for Ukraine among their top priorities.