The White House said it has invited Ukraine’s president for a visit in August — later than Kyiv had hoped.
for the Biden presidency after contending with demands from former President Donald Trump, who held up military aid while asking Zelenskyy's government to dig up dirt on the Biden family to help win re-election. The episode led to the first impeachment of Trump, who was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate in February 2020, and dragged Ukraine into America's bitter partisan politics.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration and Germany announced a deal aimed at softening the blow of the pipeline that will bypass Ukraine, but the agreement immediately came under fierce criticism in Kyiv and elsewhere. By bypassing Ukraine, the pipeline will deprive Kyiv of lucrative transit fees for gas transported across its territory.The Biden administration said Wednesday the deal with Germany would help alleviate the effect of the pipeline on Ukraine and would include investments in "green energy" in Ukraine.
According to Herbst and two congressional aides with direct knowledge of the matter, administration officials in recent days warned Ukraine not to publicly bash the U.S.-German deal and to avoid arguing against the agreement in meetings with members of Congress.Zelenskyy's visit in August will take place when Congress will likely not be in session.
Under the U.S. deal with Germany, Nuland said Berlin has committed to taking action if Russia tried "to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine." "Look, this is a bad situation and a bad pipeline but we need to help protect Ukraine, and I feel that we have made some significant steps in that direction with this agreement," Nuland told lawmakers.
"While I look forward to being briefed by the administration on the final details of the agreement, I'm skeptical that it will be sufficient when the key player at the table — Russia — refuses to play by the rules," Shaheen said in a statement.