The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to deepen his relationship with US lawmakers who will decide the future of US aid to his country, something that could be called into question if he is re-elected Donald Trump in the US presidency.

Zelensky, who is in Washington to attend the NATO summitmet with the heads of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as members of parliamentary committees dealing with defense, spending, diplomacy and national security.

“This is an extremely important mission and we need to stand with Ukraine,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner.

The Ukrainian president’s visit comes amid deep uncertainty over the US presidential election, pitting US President Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of Kiev, against Trump, who has objected to the amount of aid given to the country. .

Zelensky presented the Cross of the Order of Ukraine to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell before lunching with a group of Republican and Democratic senators. He later met with the speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, and told reporters that he had invited him to Kiev.

Johnson, a close Trump ally, responded that it was difficult to find time for the trip before the November election.

“Of course we would like to. The program is very full until the elections, so it is difficult to find the time to go, but of course we would like to,” he commented characteristically.

Reuters reported last month that two of Trump’s advisers presented him with a plan to end the war in Ukraine if he wins the Nov. 5 presidential election. The plan includes, among other things, a warning to Kiev that to receive further US aid it will have to agree to peace talks.

In a speech on Tuesday, Zelensky called on American political leaders not to wait for the outcome of the presidential election to actively help his country and called for easing restrictions on the use of American weapons.

In Congress, dozens of Trump’s closest allies have repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine, although Republicans and Democrats have worked together to approve a total of $175 billion that Washington has offered to Kiev after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. .

Johnson reversed course in April, months after Biden asked Congress to approve a new aid package for Ukraine, and allowed the House of Representatives to vote and pass that $61 billion aid package.

The package passed by a vote of 311 to 112, with some conservative Republicans close to Trump voting against it. That vote fueled concern that Republicans might not approve new aid to Ukraine if they win control of the Senate, House and White House in November.

But this week Johnson stressed in his first major national security speech that Russia poses a threat beyond Ukraine and that American voters have expressed their support for aid to Kiev.

“People understand that (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will not stop if he takes Kiev. In my opinion, he is a ruthless dictator,” he stressed.