Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky met US Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell and a small
group of Republican senators in Kyiv. However, it is unclear whether the
meeting took place on Saturday morning or the delegation left the country.

Also Read: Is Kyiv still a target for Russian forces?

“The visit of the US
Senate delegation with the leader of the Republican minority in the upper house
of Congress, Mitchell McConnell, is a strong signal of bipartisan support for
Ukraine from the United States Congress, as well as from the American
people,” Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram channel, alongside a
video of him meeting and shaking hands with the senators.

“Thank you for your
leadership in helping us fight not only for our country, but also for
democratic values and freedoms. We greatly appreciate it,” he added.

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Senators Susan Collins of
Maine, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming accompanied McConnell
in Kyiv.

Earlier this month, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a surprise visit to Ukraine. First lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited Kyiv. But US President Joe Biden is yet to visit Ukraine.

Biden also proposed a $33 billion financial aid to Ukraine which the Congress is yet to approve.

Ukraine has retained some of
the areas held by the Russian forces but the length of Russia’s war will depend
on how Ukraine’s ally helped the country, said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Also Read: G7 leaders slam Putin, vow to denounce Russian energy in talks with Ukraine’s Zelensky

Zelensky also said that
Ukraine’s military is doing everything to drive Russian forces out of his
country but “no one today can predict how long this war will last,”
Zelensky said in his nightly address Friday.

“This will depend,
unfortunately, not only on our people, who are already giving their
maximum,” he said. “This will depend on our partners, on European
countries, on the entire free world.”

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He also said that the
Ukrainian troops have retained over 1,000 “settlements” from Russian
control, including six on Friday. They are trying to restore electricity,
running water, telephone communications and social services to those towns and
villages, Zelensky said. He also said Ukraine on Friday shot down the 200th
Russian aircraft since the invasion began.