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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an address to Congress Wednesday, pleaded with the United States to “do more” by implementing a no-fly zone, providing additional aircraft and air defense systems, and creating a new security alliance.
Zelenskyy, speaking to U.S. lawmakers from Kyiv, where he has chosen to remain even as Russian forces move on the city, thanked President Biden for his “personal involvement” and “sincere commitment to the defense of Ukraine,” and the United States for the aid it has provided.
“However, now it is true in the darkest time for our country, for the whole Europe, I call on you to do more,” Zelenskyy said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, friends, Americans, in your great history, you have pages that would allow you to understand Ukrainians understand us right now, when we need you right now,” he said. “Remember Pearl Harbor, terrible morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the plains attacking you. Just remember it.”
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Zelenskyy went on to invoke Sept. 11, 2001, calling it a “terrible day” when “independent territories” were turned into “battlefields,” and “when innocent people were attacked–attacked from the air.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a stand ovation from members of Congress before he addressed lawmakers Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
(Fox News)
“Yes, just like no one else expected. You could not stop it. Our country experienced the same every day,” Zelenskyy said. “Right now at this moment, every night for three weeks now, various Ukrainian cities, Odessa and Kakutani, have been so many predominantly of Mariupol.”
Zelenskyy said Russia has “turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people,” saying there are missiles and “countless bombs.”
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“They use drones to kill us with precision,” he said. “This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for a reply–for an answer from this terror from the whole world.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a virtual address to Congress by video at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
(Drew Angerer, Pool via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a virtual address to Congress by video at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
(Sarah Silbiger, Pool via AP)
“Is this a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people? Is this too much to ask? A humanitarian no-fly zone, something that Ukraine–that Russia would not be able to terrorize our free cities?” Zelenskyy pleaded.
“If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” Zelenskyy said, calling for air “powerful, strong” air systems to “protect our people, our freedom, our land.”
“You know that they exist and you have them, but they are on earth,” he said. “Not in Ukraine, not in the Ukrainian sky–they do not defend our people.”
Invoking Martin Luther King Jr., Zelenskyy said: “I have a dream.”
“These words are known to each of you. Today, I can say I have a need. A need to protect our sky. I need your decision, your help, which means exactly the same,” he said. “The same you feel when you hear the words, I have a dream.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., introduces Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak to the U.S. Congress by video at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
Pointing to World War II, Zelenskyy said that “the war of the past have prompted our predecessors to create institutions that should protect us from war, but, they unfortunately don’t work.”
“We see it. You see it. So we need new ones, new institutions, new alliances, and we are for them,” Zelenskyy said.
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He proposed “to create an association, United for Peace, a union of responsible countries that have the strength and consciousness to stop conflicts, immediately provide all the necessary assistance in 24 hours, if necessary–even weapons, if necessary, sanctions, humanitarian support, political support.”
“If such an alliance would exist today…we would be able to save thousands of lives in our country, in many countries of the world who need peace, those who suffer inhumane destruction,” Zelenskyy said.
