Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the US Congress via video to ask for support as his country is besieged by Russian forces, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Photo: AP/J Scott Applewhite
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the US Congress via video to ask for support as his country is besieged by Russian forces, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Photo: AP/J Scott Applewhite
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US lawmakers to do more to protect his country from Russian invasion in a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday and pleaded with President Joe Biden to be the global ‘peace leader’ .
Zelensky in a virtual address invoked American history, asking lawmakers to remember the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941, the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on the United States and the “I have a dream” of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in 1963 in Washington.
For all the latest news, follow the Daily Star’s Google News channel. “I have a dream. These words are known to each of you today. I can say: I have a need. I need to protect our skies,” Zelensky said.
“Russia has turned the skies of Ukraine into a source of death for thousands of people,” Zelensky said before showing a graphic video of death and destruction in his country that ended with a call to “shut down the sky over Ukraine”.
Zelensky continued his efforts to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and requested aircraft and defensive systems to respond to the invasion launched by Russia last month that triggered a wave of refugees. He also called for more economic sanctions against Russia.
Ukraine is facing a terror the likes of which Europe has not seen since World War II and the fate of the nation is being decided, Zelensky said through an interpreter.
“Is that asking a lot – creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people? Is it too much?” Zelensky asked in remarks from Kyiv, a capital under attack every day that he said is “not giving up”.
Zelensky concluded with a direct appeal in English to Biden: “I wish you to be the leader of the world. To be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
He received standing ovations before and after his remarks.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers said after the speech they were ready to do faster for Ukraine by cracking down on Russia, providing more military aid, including planes, and strengthening global rights legislation of man. But they again rejected a no-fly zone, saying there was too great a risk of a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia.
Biden and NATO have also opposed establishing a no-fly zone. The White House has not backed a proposal to help transfer Russian-made MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, although the idea has some support in Congress – particularly among opposition Republicans.
Zelensky said Ukraine was grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support and to Biden “for his personal involvement, for his sincere commitment to defending Ukraine and democracy everywhere.”
“In the darkest times for our country – for all of Europe – I call on you to do more,” Zelensky added.
Video shown during his speech showed buildings exploding on fire, dead and injured people and babies being cradled by soldiers and police.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.
BILLIONS OF HELP
Biden on Tuesday signed into law $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine to help it get more weapons and for humanitarian aid. He previously announced a ban on Russian energy imports and called for the suspension of a trade statute that lowers tariffs on Russian exports. The House is expected to vote to suspend that status as early as this week.
The Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal. Read more
Zelensky, who has sought to bolster support for his country in speeches to foreign audiences, appealed to the Canadian parliament on Tuesday for a no-fly zone and more Western sanctions against Russia. He made similar appeals to the UK and EU parliaments this month.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi introduced it with Ukrainian words meaning “glory to Ukraine”. At the end of his remarks, Zelensky waved and put his hand to his chest in thanks for the reception.
Support for Ukraine is a rare case in which Republicans and Biden’s fellow Democrats have aligned themselves in a sharply divided Congress.
“The carnage is not coming from Russian planes and the Russian air force, it is coming from the ground and the missiles,” said Representative Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, referring to the area of proposed air exclusion.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said the United States had done a lot and should do it faster, noting Biden could do more on his own.
“The United States must lead. Our freedom and our security depend on it. And there can be no equivocation between our support for Ukraine and Russia,” Cheney told reporters.