Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday used a visit to Chicago by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyal to blast Congressional Republicans who have held up further aid to the war-torn country as it heads into a third-year of fighting to hold off a Russian invasion.
“The United States is a nation that leads in the global fight for democracy and freedom. But will we continue to do that?” Pritzker asked during a downtown news conference, while asserting that “fully half of the congressional Republicans lack the courage and moral fortitude to stand up.”
“Here in Illinois, we will not compromise in the face of Putin’s aggression and tyranny,” the governor said, calling out Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Shmyhal’s visit comes has his country’s war effort in recent months has faced an increasingly divided U.S. Congress, in which some Republicans have resisted efforts to continue providing billions of dollars in aid.
After months of delay, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson this week announced he would back separate House votes on assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, rather than voting on a wider foreign aid package all at once.
The move marks a step toward more assistance for Ukraine, but also opens the door to alterations to the aid package that the Senate previously passed. Republicans have also toyed with the idea of providing some of the Ukraine assistance as loans.
Throughout the war, Chicago’s large Ukrainian community has urged support for the country’s defense. Illinois was a symbolic first stop on Shmyhal’s United States trip, the prime minister said, as “the state that has shown outstanding support for the people of Ukraine.”
Illinois State Police has sent body armor to Ukraine; the General Assembly divested pension funds from Russia; Chicago supported Ukrainian refugees; and Illinoisans have sent ambulances to the country, the governor said. In addition, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago was the only Democrat to vote against emergency spending legislation aimed at averting a government shutdown last year, citing its lack of money for Ukraine.
Moving forward, Shmyhal asked for more Illinois companies to stop doing business with Russia and for Illinois cities to assist in Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“Ukraine will forever remember the generosity of the people of Illinois,” Shmyhal said, adding: “It is impossible to overestimate the value of all the humanitarian assistance that Chicagoans and the people of Illinois, including the Ukrainian diaspora, have provided to Ukraine so far.”
The visit also provided a personal moment for the governor and his sister, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who spoke at the news conference as a U.S. special representative to Ukraine.
The Pritzkers’ great-grandfather “fled Kyiv 140 years ago to the United States to escape the Jewish persecution at the time,” Penny Pritzker said, eventually allowing the family “to build a life here in Chicago.” The family is now one of the wealthiest in the United States.
The prime minister’s itinerary Tuesday also included a meeting with special envoy Pritzker and Chicago business leaders to discuss possibilities for future investment in Ukraine, he posted on the social media platform X.
After his appearance with the governor, Shmyhal was scheduled to speak at the University of Chicago about the war’s impact on Ukraine’s economy and prospects for reconstruction.