Ukraine President Zelenskyy asks US Congress to help 'protect our skies'

16 March 2022 - 16:24 By Richard Cowan and Patricia Zengerle
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, addressing members of Congress virtually at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, March 16 2022.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, addressing members of Congress virtually at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, March 16 2022.
Image: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters/Bloomberg

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday urged the US Congress to provide more weapons to help his country fight off Russian air strikes in an invasion that has brought death and destruction and unleashed a wave of refugees.

Reacting to concerns by President Joe Biden and many US lawmakers that imposing a no-fly zone could escalate the conflict with nuclear-armed Russia, Zelenskyy asked for more aircraft and air defence systems.

“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death,” he told a meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate. “I need to protect our skies.”

Zelenskyy's virtual address came a day after he made a plea to Canada's parliament for more Western sanctions against Russia and the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine amid a conflict that began with Russia's February 24 invasion.

Biden on Tuesday signed into law $13.6bn (about R204bn) in emergency aid to Ukraine to help it obtain more weaponry and for humanitarian assistance.

Biden was expected to announce an additional $800m (roughly R12bn) in security assistance to Ukraine later on Wednesday in remarks on US aid to the country, a White House official said.

Zelenskyy has sought to shore up support for his country in various speeches to foreign audiences, including the European parliament and the British parliament.

Support for Ukraine is a rare instance in which Republicans and Democrats have aligned in a sharply divided Congress, with some lawmakers in both parties urging Biden to go further in helping Ukraine. There is some bipartisan support in Congress for rushing combat aircraft to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.

The UN estimates that about three million people have fled Ukraine, mostly women and children, and are seeking safety in neighbouring countries, mainly Poland.

Biden has announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports and has called for a suspension of Russia's trading status that affords its exported products lower tariffs in the international arena. The house is attempting to pass legislation responding to Biden's request this week.

Historic visits

It is rare for foreign leaders to address the US Congress during wartime. A famous example came in 1941 when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to Congress just weeks after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour that drew the US into World War 2. Churchill warned that “many disappointments and unpleasant surprises await us”.

In 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress opposing an international deal aimed at discouraging Iran from developing nuclear weapons as the matter was being debated in Washington.

The first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of Congress was King Kalakaua of Hawaii in 1874, before Hawaii became a state.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1992 addressed Congress. Yeltsin's upbeat speech proclaimed: “We have left behind the period when America and Russia looked at each other through gun sights, ready to pull the trigger at any time.”

But the sanctions levelled by the US and its allies against Russia after the invasion and moves to shore up Ukraine's military capability have brought back memories of the decades-long Cold War between the US and Soviet Union to which Yeltsin had referred.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

Reuters


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.