Pence surprises with Ukraine visit, meets Zelenskyy.

Former Vice President Mike Pence Makes Surprise Trip to Ukraine

Former Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise trip to Ukraine on June 29 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid the country’s ongoing war with Russia.

The move makes him the first Republican presidential hopeful to meet with the Ukrainian leader since the war began.

Pence made the trip with the Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse. In addition to his meeting with Zelenskyy, his agenda for the day included an update on local human rights violations, security briefings from Ukrainian officials, and visits to various sites to honor fallen Ukrainians.

“I believe America’s the leader of the free world,” Pence told NBC News in an exclusive interview. “But coming here just as a private citizen, being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.”

The visit, he said, has “made me better equipped to be able to go home as I speak to the American people about the vital importance of American support to repel Russian aggression.”

Pence’s stance on the war sets him at odds with a significant portion of his party.

According to a recent poll from the Pew Research Center, 44 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the United States is providing too much aid to Ukraine. The results mark a 4 percent bump from January and a staggering 35 percent increase from March 2022, just after the war began.

By contrast, just 14 percent of Democrats today are skeptical of the amount of aid provided. Among the overall population, the portion is 28 percent.

WATCH: Mike Pence makes surprise visit to Ukraine, tells @DashaBurns that American support for Ukraine “is bigger than politics.”

Mike Pence: If Russia wins, “the second half of the 21st century could look an awful lot more like the first half of the 20th century.” pic.twitter.com/pX4OiD2HJL

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 29, 2023

When asked in another NBC interview about the growing discontent among his fellow Republicans, Pence stressed that the issue was “bigger than politics.”

“I really do believe that if Vladimir Putin and the Russian military were able to overrun Ukraine, it wouldn’t be too long before they crossed the border, where our men and women in uniform would be required to go and fight,” he said. “And frankly, the second half of the 21^st century could look a lot like the first half of the 20^th century. I think we stand with the Ukrainian military here, give them what they need.”

Adding that he feels the current moment is one that “calls for leadership,” the candidate said that was one of the reasons he decided to enter the presidential race.

‘Slow’ Administration

While other Republicans have complained that the current administration has been too quick to send billions in financial and military aid overseas, Pence said his concern has been the opposite.

“I believe the Biden administration’s been slow in providing the military support to the Ukraine, and I frankly heard that today in meeting with officials, security officials,” he said.

The administration, he said, was slow-walking the provision of Abrams tanks to the war-torn country and “dragging [its] feet” on approving the transfer of F-16s from NATO allies.

But even so, he added that he did not believe the United States should send troops to Ukraine.

“We don’t need to—I heard it again from President Zelenskyy today. He said, ‘We’re not asking for American troops, and we don’t them. … What we need is ammunition; what we need is support.’”

The goal, Pence stressed, was to provide enough support to prevent Putin from also invading a neighboring NATO ally—a situation that, under the treaty, would require the United States to send troops.

‘A Big Mess’

Pence’s trip comes on the heels of the Wagner mercenary group’s short-lived mutiny against the Russian state after months of escalating tensions amid the fighting in Ukraine.

On June 23, at the direction of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and sent troops advancing toward Moscow. The next day, however, the march was abruptly called off as Alexander Lukashenko, the president of neighboring Belarus, stepped in to negotiate the peace.

As part of that deal, Prigozhin and those loyal to him were exiled to Belarus.

Commenting on the conflict via Truth Social, former President Donald Trump called the situation “a big mess.”

“A big mess in Russia, but be careful what you wish for,” he wrote. “Next in may be far worse