After addressing British and Canadian parliamentarians over the past few days, the Ukrainian president made a vibrant plea to all American elected officials on Wednesday morning, once again via video conference.
Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Wednesday 16 March by video conference to the US Congress where he was greeted by a standing ovation. In his speech, the Ukrainian president compared the situation in his country to 9/11 and once again asked the West for a no-fly zone.
The US President announced an additional US$800 million in security aid for Ukraine, including the delivery of anti-aircraft weapons.
Leading a nation under Russian bombs for the past three weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky implored the US Congress for more help for his country in an address that appealed to American values and emotions.
While he thanked Americans for the significant support provided to his country, he asked President Joe Biden, who was not in Congress, and elected officials to do more, renewing among other things his call for the establishment of a no-fly zone, even as the Russian army continues to shell major Ukrainian cities.
I have a dream”: these words are familiar to all of you, he said, referring to the famous speech by civil rights icon Martin Luther King. Today I can say, ‘I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision. I need your help.
To hammer home his message, he presented a powerful video showing the horrors of the war in Ukraine and its victims in a raw way. The first images of Ukrainian cities and their smiling inhabitants could have been a tourist advertisement, but then the video shifted to horror: bombed buildings, injured or killed citizens, soldiers consoling children, doctors trying to save survivors, victims of the strikes on the Mariupol paediatric hospital, dead buried in mass graves.
And it concluded with the message: Close the sky over Ukraine.
The White House and its allies in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have rejected Kiev’s repeated demands, fearing that the establishment of a no-fly zone would lead to a military escalation into a world war.
While he delivered most of his speech in Ukrainian, he concluded in English, specifically addressing the US President.
