WASHINGTON — Embattled Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova said a brooch she gave Jill Biden actually cost “less than 1 dollar” after the White House said it was worth more than $14,000 on disclosure forms.
Markarova, whom top congressional Republicans want to be fired over an event they believed was designed to boost Democrats in swing-state Pennsylvania, gave the first lady the forget-me-not-flower brooch on the same day that the Bidens hosted her at the 2023 State of the Union address.
“Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government,” an annotation on the gift registry says.
But the ambassador posted to X that there was confusion about the cost, which seemed to be based on the price of a similar item fetched.”This meaningful but very inexpensive brooch is made of remains of Russian missiles, decorated by flowers made of titanium dioxide and bronze, by genius Ukrainian artist Stanislav Drokin from daily attacked Kharkiv,” she tweeted Friday.
“The value of materials is less than 1 dollar. The meaning of this brooch which turns Russian aggression and our Ukrainian pain into resilience and creation, has no limits. And so does our gratitude to American people supporting us 3 difficult years for Kharkiv, Ukraine and world.”
Markarova added that the item was “donated… to the Embassy to be presented as a gift.”
The present was, at least per the official estimate, one of the most expensive gifts given to the first couple in a listing published Thursday in the Federal Register — though it was topped by a diamond gifted to Jill Biden by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, worth an estimated $20,000.
US ethics policies require diplomatic gift recipients to relinquish the items unless they purchase them for market value.
The brooch will be “Retained for Official Use in the East Wing,” the disclosure document says.
The first lady’s office did not immediately offer comment to The Post.
Congress has appropriated $183 billion to support Kyiv since the February 2022 Russian invasion.
Those funds include $26.8 billion in direct budget support for the Ukrainian government.
Markarova’s position as ambassador became tenuous in September when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a Scranton, Pa., ammunition plant at the height of the election campaign between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanded that Zelensky “immediately fire” Markarova for organizing the trip featuring Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited,” Johnson said at the time.
“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country.”
