Massachusetts congressional representatives Jim McGovern and Bill Keating joined a Congressional delegation for a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, where they spoke with Ukraine's president about how the U.S. can best support the country amid its ongoing Russian invasion.
The representatives from the Bay State's 2nd and 9th districts joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and representatives Gregory Meeks, Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee, and Jason Crow.
In a joint statement posted to Pelosi's website, the delegation said they "traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine."
Footage released by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office showed Pelosi and the other U.S. legislators in Kyiv.
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McGovern detailed his experience in Kyiv in a Twitter thread posted Sunday morning, writing that the delegation discussed "the need for continued security, economic, and humanitarian assistance from the United States."
McGovern remarked how he saw "the tremendous evil of Putin's war."
"But we also saw the tremendous good of those working to oppose it," the congressman added. "I believe good will win."
In a phone interview with NBC10 Boston and NECN, McGovern said of Ukrainians, "They are fighting for their lives. They are fighting for freedom, for democracy, for their human rights."
"And they're up against this horrific bully named Vladimir Putin, who may have an army that's 100 times the size of theirs, but what he doesn't have is the spirit and the commitment to freedom and human rights that the Ukrainian people have."
The delegation was then headed to Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda and senior officials and to hear firsthand about the U.S. and Polish efforts to assist Ukrainian refugees forced to flee their homes because of Putin's invasion.
