US official meets Ukrainian children at UNICEF hub in Warsaw

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday that she does not expect the U.S. midterm election to weaken Washington’s support for Ukraine given the bipartisan backing for Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke after she visited a UNICEF center in Warsaw that has become a hub for Ukrainian refugee children and their mothers, offering educational support and therapy.

She said her talks with government and Warsaw city officials included making contingency plans in case the coming winter and power outages create another large exodus of Ukrainians to Poland and other frontline states.

She also expressed gratitude to the people of Poland and the government for the enormous help they have provided to Ukrainians, many of whom fled to Poland and have remained there.

A day earlier she was in Ukraine, where she announced that the U.S., through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $25 million to support vulnerable people in Ukraine during the harsh winter. She said she met with people in a community center who could not return to their homes “because of Russia’s horrible attacks” on the power and water infrastructure.

Asked by a reporter about the impact the U.S. election Tuesday might have on U.S. support for Kyiv, she replied: “I haven’t given that any thought other than the fact that our support for Ukraine has been bipartisan so I don’t see that the elections will have an impact on that support.”

“I know that the president will continue to work with Congress to get the support that Ukraine needs until Russia’s unprovoked attacks on Ukraine are brought to an end,” she said.

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