At one point during his remarks, Mr Zelensky played a video showing US lawmakers scenes from Ukraine before and after the war.
At one point during his remarks, Mr Zelensky played a video showing US lawmakers scenes from Ukraine before and after the war.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a gloomy and sometimes emotional address, almost delivered to members of the US Congress, called for the sky to be closed over Ukraine – a no-fly zone and further sanctions against Russia. His first address on Wednesday morning, his first to US representatives and senators, was also directed to Americans and – at one point – to US President Joe Biden.
Comparing the skies over Ukraine to what the US saw during the September 11 attacks on Pearl Harbor (when the Japanese launched an air raid on the US in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December 1941) and the World Trade Center in New York “Russia has turned Ukraine’s skies into a source of death for thousands of people,” Mr Zelensky said.
“They use drones to kill us with precision. This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years and we are demanding answers from the whole world on this terror.” His speech when he switched to English.
At one point during his remarks, Mr Zelensky played a video showing US lawmakers scenes from Ukraine before and after the war – including some of the images that have been widely circulated in the past few weeks – on a stretcher. A pregnant woman, a family dead lying on the street, and a little boy crying and walking on what appears to be an evacuation route.
“Is asking a lot to create a no-fly zone zone over Ukraine to save people? He spoke. The US and NATO have rejected the no-fly zone option, which Mr. Biden said last week would be tantamount to “world war three”.
Mr Zelensky said if the no-fly zone is too much to ask, he would need defense systems to protect the sky, such as the S300 surface-to-air missile defense system. The US Congress is also pressuring the White House to give Ukraine access to it in addition to the Russian-made MiG fighters that Ukrainian pilots are familiar with. Relative to the transfer of US weapons, it has been difficult for the Biden administration to facilitate the transfer of Russian systems (which would have to be through a third country) to Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky called or banned all Russian politicians, from Duma members to “last officials” who had not broken ties with Mr Putin’s government.
Stating that existing institutions do not work to prevent war, Mr. Zelensky called for the creation of a group called ‘U24: United for Peace’, which uses weapons, sanctions, humanitarian aid, finance, political Will try to end the conflict within hours. support etc.
“To be a leader of the world means to be a leader of peace,” Zelensky said at the end of his remarks, speaking in English and encouraging Biden to take on the role directly.
Mr Biden is set to announce $800 million in security aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. This is in addition to the $200 million already approved. The total amount will come from the roughly $13.6 billion Congress approved – and signed by Mr. Biden – in aid to Ukraine and that includes defense equipment.