Tennessee U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen Professes Support for Ukraine and Zelensky’s ‘Fight for Democracy’ Despite Elections Not Being Held in the Country Since 2019

Tennessee U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) released a statement on Wednesday professing his support for Ukraine and his admiration for its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, for being “on the front lines of democracy.”

“As the House Ranking Member of the Helsinki Commission…I have strongly supported Ukraine as a free and democratic country since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022,” Cohen said.

“I will continue my strong support for Ukraine and admire the work of President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine. They are on the front lines of democracy and are fighting for democracy in Europe and around the world,” Cohen added.

The congressman also targeted President Donald Trump in his statement, alleging that Trump “ordered” Ukraine and European nations to be excluded from talks between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

“If this war is to come to a successful conclusion, Ukraine and all our NATO allies need to be at the negotiating table. We cannot discuss the future of Ukraine without Ukraine,” Cohen said.

Trump addressed questions regarding Ukraine’s omission from this week’s talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia, telling reporters on Tuesday, “Today I heard, well, we weren’t invited. Well, you’ve been there for three years.”

In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ensured on Tuesday that no nation “is being sidelined” in efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine while also stressing, “[U]ltimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort.”

Cohen’s admiration for Ukraine’s fight for “democracy” comes as the country has not held a presidential election since 2019 when Zelensky was elected to a five-year term.

Despite Zelensky’s first term ending in May 2024, his declaration of martial law has allowed him to stay in office and the suspension of elections until martial law is lifted.

Trump pointed this out in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, calling Zelensky a “Dictator without Elections.”

Cohen’s admiration for Zelensky has been on display since the beginning of the war in 2022 as the congressman has consistently advocated for sending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to the country and even visiting with the Ukrainian president in 2023, calling Zelensky at the time the “most admired man in the world.”

In addition, one of the fourteen pieces of legislation Cohen has introduced so far in the 119th Congress includes a resolution that would “condemn Russia for committing acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people,” call on the U.S. to “undertake measures to support the Ukrainian Government to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people,” and support “tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel to account for a war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Rep. Steve Cohen” by Rep. Steve Cohen.