Ex-NY Gov. Pataki returns to Ukraine with heating units, calls for more US aid
Former Gov. George Pataki delivered high power heating units to Ukraine last week — and is urging the Biden administration to step up US aid to the nation in its war with Russia.
“Each time we go we hope to see this massive amount of aid in the Ukraine,” Pataki told The Post during a call from Hungary.
“They need more.”
New York’s ex-chief said he took matters into his own hands, traveling with Ambassador Earle Mack from the nonprofit Appeal of Conscience Foundation, to Ukraine for his fifth trip to the country.
The pair headed a delegation that delivered 15 large industrial-sized heating units with the capacity to serve up to 10 families each, thanks to donations from ACF and support from the George Pataki Leadership Center.
“We are going to continue to do whatever we can to help the Ukrainian people. The federal government has dedicated billions in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but this is our fifth trip into Ukraine since the war started and we have not seen one penny of US humanitarian aid,” he said.
The Biden administration has committed over $18 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power grid, causing frequent blackouts and loss of power across the country. Pataki said after speaking to Ukrainian officials — including President Volodymyr Zelensky wife’s, Olena Zelenska — he decided to make the trip to deliver the heaters.
Pataki said the group’s schedule was forced to change when they were delayed by an electrical blackout Thursday at the Luzhanka border between Ukraine and Hungary. He said air raid sirens sounded during the attempted crossing.
The group met with Consul General of Hungary in Ukraine Alexandra Csizmadia and traveled to Berehove, Ukraine, to hand off the donated generators — and returned to the US on Friday.
Pataki has been assisting Ukrainian refugees with temporary housing in Hungary, where his paternal grandparents were from.
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