Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska addresses the US Congress

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska will address the US Congress on Wednesday, nearly five months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of her country.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife will address lawmakers at 11 a.m. urging the US to step up its support for Ukraine.

Zelenska also hopes to increase humanitarian aid in Ukraine, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said in a statement.

“We look forward to hearing First Lady Zelenska’s account of this situation and providing insights into the security, economic and humanitarian conditions on the ground,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“We hope that all members will take this important and opportune opportunity to hear directly from First Lady Zelenska, learn more about the horrific toll of the Russian invasion, and express our gratitude to the people of Ukraine for their struggle for democracy. ”

Zelenska’s speech follows repeated calls from her husband and senior officials in Kyiv for the US to provide additional aid to the war-torn country.

Zelenskyy said he expected “significant results” from his wife’s meetings in Washington.

“I have every faith that decision-makers in the United States will hear her,” he said of his wife’s address to Congress.

On Tuesday, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden presented Zelenska with a bouquet of flowers as they welcomed her to the White House.

“The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, embodies the same tenacity and resilience as the country from which she hails,” Biden tweeted on Tuesday. “It was an honor for Jill and I to welcome her to the White House this afternoon.”

The two First Ladies and delegations from both countries met shortly thereafter in the Blue Room of the White House.

Zelenska’s “visit to Congress is part of her important mission here in the United States, meeting with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other senior officials in the Biden administration,” Pelosi said.

On Monday, Zelenska met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Monday that Blinken “underscored the full and enduring commitment of the United States to support Ukraine’s victory in Russia’s unjust and unprovoked war.”

The couple also spoke “of the immense and growing human cost of the full-scale invasion of Russia.”

Zelenskyi first called on the US to supply long-range missile systems to his country in his own speech before Congress on March 16. The Ukrainian president also called for a no-fly zone over his country — a plea the West has repeatedly rejected, fearing it could escalate the conflict into a larger war.

More than 5,000 civilians, including several hundred children, have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24. According to State Department estimates, up to 1.6 million Ukrainians were forcibly deported from their homes to Russian territory.