The White House on Wednesday announced that Ukraine’s first lady and late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s widow have declined an invitation to the State of the Union by United States President Joe Biden, ABC News reported.

The Washington Post reported that the White House intended to seat Olena Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya next to first lady Jill Biden.

Despite being a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his life, Navalny had documented remarks that Crimea, annexed by Putin, originally belonged to Russia.

However, the presence of Navalny’s widow would cause discomfort for the Ukrainians.

During a press briefing for Thursday’s State of the Union address, Jean-Pierre was asked how President Biden will address foreign policy issues and whether he’s going to press House Republicans to support more Ukraine aid.

She responded by saying: “The president’s going to continue to make his case that House Republicans need to move forward. The speaker needs to put the national security supplemental on the floor.”

“We know that it would get overwhelming support … we can’t let politics get in the way of our national security, so, the president is going to make that clear,” she added.