U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to fire Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, for alleged "election interference" related to Zelensky's visit to a Pennsylvania ammunition plant, Fox News reported on Sept. 25.
Johnson alleges that Markarova arranged a taxpayer-funded trip to a battleground state that "purposely excluded" Republicans ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
"I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova," Johnson wrote to Zelensky in a letter obtained by Fox News.
Zelensky, on Sept. 22, visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania to thank workers for producing critically-need 155 mm shells for Ukraine. The factory tour kicked off his visit to the U.S., where he plans to present his victory plan to American leadership.
In his letter to Zelensky, Johnson characterized the factory visit as "a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats."
Republican Congressmember James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, announced on Sept. 25 that he was opening up an investigation into the White House's "misuse of government resources" regarding Zelensky's visit.
"If the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit the Vice President's presidential campaign, this is an abuse of power and misuse of taxpayer dollars," Comer wrote on X.
U.S. support for Ukraine has increasingly become a partisan issue in a heated election season. At a campaign rally on Sept. 24, former U.S. President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine and promised to "get out" if elected in November.
"(U.S. President Joe) Biden and Kamala (Harris) got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can't get us out," he said.
Johnson maintained that Ukraine still has support from both major U.S. parties in his letter to Zelensky.
"Support for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished when the candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government," Johnson wrote.
While congressional Republicans sharply criticized Zelensky's factory visit as election interference, Trump had previously planned a joint appearance with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Pennsylvania this week.
The joint event was later canceled, without details given as to the reasons for the decision.
Sonya Bandouil
(Updated: )
