WASHINGTON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recalled the darkest days in the United States on Wednesday as he called for more military aid to combat Russia’s “inhuman destruction” of his country, directly President Biden and members of the Challenge Congress to help by showing a horrible video. the bread in the cities of Ukraine.
Appearing before Congress via video link from Kyiv, Mr Zelensky compared the three-week invasion of Russia and Ukraine to the Japanese World War II air strike on Pearl Harbor, when “your sky was black with the planes that attacked you”, and on Sept. 11 when “innocent people were attacked, attacked from the air.” Wearing an olive green T-shirt and sitting next to a Ukrainian flag, he called on the United States and its allies to fulfill a moral obligation by imposing a curfew on their country to prevent Russian airstrikes.
“I call on you to do more,” said Mr Zelensky, describing the conflict raging in Ukraine as an attack on the civilized nations of the world. Speaking directly to Mr Biden, he added: “I wish you to be the leader of the world. To be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.
The appeal and the explicit video of people being wounded and killed by Russian attacks left several lawmakers in tears and brought members of both parties to their feet in long standing ovations for the warlord. In his own remarks a few hours later, Mr. Biden praised Mr. Zelensky for demonstrating “remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression” and announced that the United States would soon have $ 800 million worth of anti-aircraft weapons. and supply anti-armor rockets, grenades, rifles, body armor and more.
Mr Zelensky’s appeal in recent weeks, concluded with his emotional speech on Wednesday, helped stimulate bipartisan action by Mr Biden and members of Congress, including a nearly $ 14 billion aid package that includes refugee aid, economic aid and billions of dollars . military aid. Mr Biden signed the legislation on Tuesday.
But while Mr Zelensky steadily increased the pressure by pushing in a public sense of anger and sadness over the consequences of the Russian invasion, he did not convince Mr Biden and most lawmakers to meet his urgent demands for help. support – access to the fighter jets and efforts to close the skies over his land.
Mr Biden and his top military aides have refused requests to help Ukraine get aging Russian-produced MIG fighters from Poland. U.S. officials said the Pentagon had said it would do little good in the fight against Russia – and could be used by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an excuse to escalate fighting in neighboring countries in Europe.
Mr Zelensky’s speech did little to shake the immediate determination of the United States and its allies to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia, which could lead NATO leaders to a catastrophic global war with devastating consequences. .
In Brussels, NATO officials again categorically rejected the idea of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it required the kind of military conflict with Russia that they wanted to avoid. In Washington, Mr Biden did not mention a flight zone, although he did promise to send more military aid.
“The American people are responding to President Zelensky’s call for more aid, more weapons for Ukraine,” Mr Biden said. He also promised to help Ukraine get long-range anti-aircraft systems and ammunition that could help defend the country’s cities against Russian fighters and bombers.
“Putin is making Ukraine a horrible, horrible devastation and horror,” Mr Biden said. “Bombardment of apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s god-awful.
Asked how he left an event later in the day, Mr Biden said of Mr Putin: “I think he is a war criminal.” It was the first time that the administration accused the Russian president specifically of war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky and Mr Biden delivered speeches against the backdrop of more gruesome developments in Ukraine, including in Kyiv in the northern city of Chernihiv on Wednesday.
Before Mr Biden’s eight-minute speech, Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, warned his Russian counterpart against “any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement. .
The warning to Nikolai P. Patrushev, Mr Putin’s chief national security adviser, reflects escalating concerns in Washington that the Russians, who were stopped in their hopes of a quick takeover of the country, could resort to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
In his address to Congress, Mr. Zelensky appealed to the emotions of lawmakers and their faith in the United States as a leader of the free world. He thanked lawmakers for their support but strongly suggested that the US still fulfill the nation’s alleged moral obligation to defend democracies terrorized by violent authorities – including democracies outside its alliances.
He borrowed a phrase from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – “I have a dream” – in which he called on the United States to help him fight the Russian plane, saying “I have a need” for the Russian sky To protect against attacks.
“I see no point in life if it can not stop the deaths,” said Mr Zelensky, speaking in English at the end of his speech.
Mr Zelensky delivered his address through a translator to a packed cinema-style auditorium in the Capitol complex, calling it “the darkest time for our country”, as he asked lawmakers to paint pictures of Ukraine before and after the Russian To watch invasion. Such explicit scenes of wreckage are rarely, if ever, shown to the legislature at an address provided by a foreign dignitary, and the effect was immediately palpable.
They sat on their seats while addressing, many members of Congress could be seen wiping tears from their faces as they watched scenes of a Ukraine in shambles. Mr Zelensky’s defense against the deadly Russian assassination has inspired lawmakers in both parties who would like to send him help.
Many lawmakers have urged Mr Biden to do more to help Ukraine and punish Russia, often on a faster timeline than the administration wanted. In his remarks, Mr Zelensky seems to be playing up this dynamic, because at the same time he praised Mr Biden’s help, but said it had fallen short.
“A few minutes ago, President Zelensky reminded us that the United States is truly the leader of the free world,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, in a Senate speech. “So it’s time we acted that way.”
Congress last week approved the nearly $ 14 billion aid package for Ukraine, more than doubling the Biden administration’s original price tag in an unusually fast and bipartisan display. But confronted with Mr Zelensky’s emotional descriptions of a terrorized nation, lawmakers emerged Wednesday of his presentation, which shows no difficulty in sending him further help, in what could potentially be a messy debate going on along party lines splintered.
Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to Know
While members of Congress generally agree that the United States should send more weapons to Ukraine, deep disagreements remain over what exactly would be appropriate to offer.
Some of Mr Zelensky’s requests, such as the imposition of a flight zone, were rejected by the Biden administration and NATO allies. Others are being considered more seriously by Republicans and Democrats in Congress, including supplying Ukraine with advanced anti-missile systems and drones.
Some lawmakers and both parties continue to call on the United States to help transfer MIG fighter jets to Ukraine, despite questions about whether the air force could fly the country at all and whether Russia would view the transfer as an escalating movement.
“They need more javelins, they need more ammunition, they need more stingers, they need more surface-to-air missiles, they need more planes, they need more of everything,” said Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, referring to himself on Javelin. Antitank rockets and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
“Zelensky has the courage of his convictions,” Mr Sasse added. “The question he posed to Congress and the U.S. government is: Will we have the courage of ours? We are a superpower. We should act that way.”
With many in Congress calling for the White House to come behind the transfer of MIG fighters to Ukraine from Poland, the White House has pushed back.
Jen Psaki, the White House’s press secretary, said on Tuesday that since the planes were being reconciled with NATO air bases, those bases could become targets for Russian retaliation, which would draw NATO forces into the war. On Wednesday, she built on that argument, saying that because the Jets were able to come to Russia to attack, they could be considered offensive weapons.
The Biden administration insists that the long-range anti-aircraft systems that are being transferred to Ukraine are very defensive in nature. But it is not clear that the Russians would consider them as such, as both the aircraft systems and the MIG fighters could take down Russian aircraft.
Privately, some administration officials admitted that the difference is narrow and that it is not clear that the Russians consider the anti-aircraft batteries to be defensive.
Delaware Democrat Senator Chris Coons said Mr Zelensky had “made an incredibly convincing case that Putin will only stop if we stop him.” But he added a note of withdrawal, giving voice to a calculation that private administration officials weighed privately.
“It’s really just a fundamental question of how much risk we are willing to take,” Mr Coons said.
The public and often partisan debate over how to send weapons to Ukraine has clearly annoyed some bidding allies. Senator Christopher S. Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said the public debate had reached the point of absurdity.
“In order for us to telegraph every day in Russia, our divisions over what kind of defensive support Ukraine should receive, and to telegraph them exactly as to what weapons systems we are transmitting, I do not know, is helpful,” Mr Murphy said. “This is a strange way to pursue a war.”
Despite the divisions between legislators, Mr. Biden tried to make clear that the United States was united in its support of Ukraine.
“Let there be no doubt, no uncertainty, no question,” he said. “America stands with the forces of freedom. We always have, we always will.”
Jonathan Weisman, Emily Cochrane in the David E. Sanger Report contributed.
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