by Richard Cowan and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volodimir Zelensky on Wednesday urged the United States to provide Ukraine with more weaponry to deal with Russian aerial bombardment, telling U.S. lawmakers to remember the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Addressing the United States Congress via video link, the Ukrainian president made a further plea for the establishment of a no-fly zone over his country and called for more planes and systems of anti-aircraft defense.
He invited his American counterpart Joe Biden to behave as a “peace leader” in the world.
“Russia has turned the Ukrainian skies into a source of death for thousands of people,” said Volodimir Zelensky before showing elected members of the US House of Representatives and Senate a video containing raw images of the deaths and destruction caused by the Russian military offensive in his country. This video ended with these words: “Close the sky over Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president closed his speech by speaking directly in English to Joe Biden: “I want you to be the leader of the world. To be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Like most other NATO leaders, Joe Biden and US lawmakers are reluctant to consider a ‘no-fly zone’ in Ukraine for fear it could escalate into direct confrontation with Russia and conflict. nuclear.
The White House has also refused to back a Polish-backed plan to transfer Russian-designed MiG fighter jets to Ukraine.
The elected members of Congress gave a standing ovation to Volodimir Zelensky before and after his speech. During her presentation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used a slogan meaning “glory to Ukraine” in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian president ended his remarks by waving to the elected officials and placing a hand on his chest in a gesture of recognition.
UKRAINE, A RARE SUBJECT OF CONVERGENCE AT THE AMERICAN CONGRESS
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a law providing emergency aid of 13.6 billion dollars (12.3 billion euros) to Ukraine to enable it to buy weapons and obtain humanitarian aid. He was expected to announce an additional $800 million in security aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, a White House official said.
Volodimir Zelensky reminded elected members of Congress of the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii during the Second World War and the attacks of September 11 in an attempt to make them aware of the shock suffered by Ukraine.
“At this very moment, the fate of our country is being decided,” he said through an interpreter.
Russia presents its offensive in Ukraine as a “special military operation” intended to guarantee its security.
Divided on almost all subjects, the elected Democrats and Republicans of the United States Congress find a rare point of convergence on Ukraine and the support to be given to this country, some even pleading for more determined support. The delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine is also an idea that meets with some echo in both chambers.
The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill calling President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
With its Western allies, the United States decided on heavy economic and financial sanctions against Russia. Joe Biden also announced an American embargo on imports of Russian oil and gas.
It is rare for a foreign leader to address the United States Congress in times of war. This was the case in 1941 with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, less than three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor led the United States to enter the world conflict.
In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin gave a resolutely optimistic speech to American parliamentarians in which he declared, among other things: “We have left behind the period when America and Russia were looking at each other through the sights of their guns, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.”
(Reporting Richard Cowan and Patricia Zengerle; with Doina Chiacu, David Morgan and Katharine Jackson, French version Bertrand Boucey, editing by Jean-Michel Bélot)