Pence visits Ukraine border

He said the Russian military had unleashed “unspeakable violence on the people of Ukraine.”

“Karen and I just wanted to be here to see firsthand what was happening and to urge all of our fellow Americans to do your part, to pray earnestly for peace,” Pence said to a CBS News camera.

The Pences spoke with several Ukrainian refugees, including a woman holding a young child who had fled her home because of Russian airstrikes.

“I want you to know I used to be the vice president,” Pence said. “I don’t speak on behalf of our government anymore, but I can tell you the American people are with you.”

The United Nations estimates more than 2 million Ukrainians have left the country since the war began.

“Karen and I just spoke to a number of families that have left their homes — in many ways, left family members behind, to fight the war as they come here seeking safety for themselves and their children,” Pence said. He also tweeted a few photos from the trip.

Pence, who is weighing a presidential run in 2024, visited the border as part of a delegation from Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian relief organization. He praised its leader Edward Graham for “responding in Jesus’ name.” Graham, who stood alongside the Pences as they spoke, is the son of evangelical pastor Franklin Graham.

Karen Pence said “it has been heartbreaking” to hear mothers who told them they had to leave their homes in the middle of the night.

The former vice president visited Poland on the same day that Vice President Kamala Harris met Polish President Andrezj Duda in Warsaw

“You have strong hearts,” Pence told a woman with a Ukrainian flag patch affixed to her camouflage parka. “Proud of you.”