President Volodymyr Zelensky extended an invitation to Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine to see where the trillions of dollars of financial aid is going. Zelensky is concerned about McCarthy’s comments that there will be no blank checks for Ukraine from the Republican-majority House of Representatives. Zelensky said McCarthy has to come to see what is happening there. He did so during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“He has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting now. And then after that, make your assumptions,” Zelenskyy told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview.

It probably didn’t help that Zelensky said that on CNN. McCarthy’s response was quick and it was “no.” Don’t hold your breath to see news reports of a surprise visit to Kyiv by Speaker McCarthy. He told CNN he won’t be making that trip. He blamed the Biden administration for not acting quickly enough to aid Ukraine. McCarthy said he doesn’t have to go to Ukraine because he does not intend to change his position that the United States shouldn’t be sending blank checks. McCarthy has held that position since last fall. Members of both parties expressed worries that support for Ukraine is waning.

“Let’s be very clear about what I said: no blank checks, OK? So, from that perspective, I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank check or not,” McCarthy told CNN. “I will continue to get my briefings and others, but I don’t have to go to Ukraine or Kyiv to see it. And my point has always been, I won’t provide a blank check for anything.”

Frankly, McCarthy’s position is the only one to have at this point. I fully support Ukraine in its fight for sovereignty against Mad Vlad Putin. If the United States drops the ball, the consequences will be felt throughout Europe, which will affect the United States. Putin will be emboldened and continue his march to expand Russia’s territory. That’s not good for the Free World. McCarthy is also right to chide Biden on his slow response. From the beginning, Biden has been several steps behind other NATO nations. He didn’t believe Putin would invade Ukraine in the first place. Then Biden let Macron in France take the lead in playing the go-between with Zelensky and Putin. Biden leads from behind, just as Obama did.

American taxpayers deserve to have an accounting of where the money is going. Ukraine is notoriously corrupt and trillions of dollars from the United States and other countries potentially make a huge slush fund for Zelensky and his cronies. At this point, we have to trust that the money is going for what is was intended for. Zelensky is a tough leader, a proud man, and unwilling to show weakness. Biden has a different mentality – he offered Zelensky safe passage out of Ukraine when Putin’s invasion began.

Zelensky’s point to Blitzer is that other American officials have visited Ukraine and seen for themselves how everything is going – “the supply routes, every shell, every bullet, every dollar.” I think that Speaker McCarthy, he never visited Kyiv or Ukraine, and I think it would help him with his position,” Zelenskyy said. Maybe. But McCarthy is in a new position of power and has to prove himself. He’s not going to allow himself to look like a rubber stamp for politicians willing to keep the checks going out, no matter what.