Addressing Congress, Ukrainian President Zelensky pleads for military aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing Congress on Wednesday from a capital under a rain of Russian artillery fire and missiles, delivered a stark new plea for American military aid, making a moral case to hundreds of gathered lawmakers that the world’s preeminent superpower must do more to prevent his nation’s destruction. In a 16-minute presentation, Zelensky cited the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in seeking to push President Biden and lawmakers to further action — asking them to layer potent air-defense systems and new Russian financial sanctions on top of the military transfers, humanitarian aid and economic salvos that the United States has already delivered since Russia began bombarding Ukrainian cities last month. Zelensky reiterated a call for a Western-enforced no-fly zone — a move Biden and other Western leaders have rejected as tantamount to starting a world war — but he quickly moved on to other specific requests that have gained wider support in Washington.

They included transferring surface-to-air missile systems and aircraft to Ukraine, further cracking down on Russian trade, and imposing sanctions on a much wider range of Russian political leaders, including all members of the lower house of the Russian legislature, the Duma. In his final words, Zelensky addressed Biden, who was not present on Capitol Hill with the hundreds of lawmakers who crowded into a Capitol Visitor Center auditorium to hear Zelensky speak from Kyiv by video link. “You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation — I wish you to be the leader of the world,” he said, speaking in English after giving most of his address in Ukrainian. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.” Citing the risk of sparking “World War III,” Biden has ruled out a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone and has paused plans to transfer Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine. Speaking Wednesday afternoon, Biden called Zelensky’s address “convincing” and “significant” but gave no indication that he has changed his views on those matters.