FIRST ON FOX: Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul traveled to Kyiv Tuesday with a congressional delegation to see “first-hand” what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and conduct oversight to gain better insight on the Russia-Ukraine war.
McCaul, R-Texas, was joined on the trip by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Keith Self, R-Texas, Max Miller, R-Ohio, and Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, Fox News Digital has learned.
Earlier Tuesday, the lawmakers were in Bucha meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. They also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before conducting a press conference in Kyiv.
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A Foreign Affairs Committee aide told Fox News Digital that the delegation traveled to Ukraine to see “first-hand” what is occurring on the ground in the war zone. The trip was designed to prioritize oversight and the lawmakers plan to be transparent about their findings and meetings.
The lawmakers also held a meeting focused on Russian war crimes and plan to hold a hearing in the spring on that issue.
The GOP trip comes just a day after President Biden made a surprise visit to the capital city of Ukraine just ahead of the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of the country.
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Biden delivered remarks and met with Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance. The new assistance includes shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid but no new advanced weaponry.
McCaul told Fox News Digital Tuesday that Biden’s surprise “photo op” Monday is not enough and said the U.S. needs to send more lethal aid to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia.
“It’s good President Biden visited Ukraine, but a photo op isn’t enough,” said McCaul. “He needs to get Ukraine the weapons they need to win now, especially ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System), instead of slow-rolling them.”
The top Republican on the Senate committee, Jim Risch of Idaho, agreed that more lethal force is needed and called on Biden to send fighter aircraft.