The speaker assured a Russian reporter that he will continue to assist Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion. He had previously cautioned that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine.
Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California who was elected speaker of the House in January, retracted earlier claims that the new House majority might reduce American military and financial support for Kyiv’s war effort to fend off Russia’s invasion.
Shortly after delivering a speech to Israel’s Knesset, Mr. McCarthy appeared at a news conference in Jerusalem. When a reporter for the Russian official news agency RIA Novosti questioned him about whether he may reduce funding and weapons to Ukraine, Mr. McCarthy retaliated vehemently.
“I vote for aid for Ukraine, I support aid for Ukraine,” Mr. McCarthy responded to the reporter who had stated before asking a question, “We know that you don’t support the current unlimited and uncontrolled supplies of weaponry and aid to Ukraine.”
Mr. McCarthy added a harsh denunciation of Russia’s involvement in the war after previously stating that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine.
“I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine; I do not support your killing of the children either,” Mr. McCarthy told the Russian reporter. “And we will continue to support, because the rest of the world sees it just as it is.”
The remarks stood in stark contrast to recent indications from Mr. McCarthy over support for Ukraine, as far-right Republican legislators pushed for an audit of U.S. assistance to Kyiv and the cessation of American funding for the conflict.
