WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed directly to U.S. lawmakers and the American public Wednesday with an emotional request to the Biden administration for additional financial support, more weaponry and a no-fly zone to help his country fight off the Russian invasion.
“Friends, Ukraine is grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support for everything that your government and your people have done for us,” Zelenskyy said, wearing a camouflage green T-shirt in an office inside his war-torn nation’s capital, with the Ukrainian flag beside him. “I call on you to do more.”
Within hours, the White House announced it would be sending a new package of military supplies to Ukraine, a sign of the political potency of Zelenskyy’s address.
In the first virtual address by a foreign leader to Congress, Zelenskyy asked for an air defense system, new sanctions on every politician in the Russian Federation and a no-fly zone over his country.
In closing, Zelenskyy called out Biden’s role as the leader of the country. “I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Speaking mostly through a translator, Zelenskyy compared the Russian invasion to the attacks on the U.S. on Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
“Our country experiences the same every day, right now at this moment. Every night for three weeks now,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy’s impassioned 20-minute plea served as an attempt to rally public empathy as well as pressure on the Biden administration to step up its support.
Lawmakers in a packed auditorium in the Capitol complex said the most moving moment was a short video depicting graphic violence in Ukraine, including bombings and injured children.
Speaking briefly in English after the video, Zelenskyy noted that he is almost 45 years old, but that “my age stopped when the hearts of more than 100 children [stopped] beating. I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths.”
Lawmakers, some of whom grew emotional discussing the violence in the video, said the intended audience for Zelenskyy’s address was not actually in the Capitol.
It “was clearly intended for an audience sitting in the White House, and I hope they were listening,” Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The administration needs to step up and lead.”
The Biden administration has rebuffed Zelenskyy’s requests for fighter jets and the imposition of a no-fly zone, believing such actions could escalate the conflict.
“Is this a lot to ask for — to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?” Zelenskyy said during his remarks.
Shortly after Zelenskyy spoke, Biden formally announced the U.S. would deliver $800 million in additional security aid to Ukraine, including 800 new anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 shoulder mounted missiles and 7,000 small arms, such as machine guns. The package will also include drones, “which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems,” Biden said from the White House.
“We’re going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead,” Biden said. “This could be a long and difficult battle, but the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine in the face of Putin’s immoral, unethical attacks on civilian populations.”
After days of communicating directly with foreign heads of state, Zelenskyy has rolled out a new strategy to go directly to foreign legislatures and, because those addresses are broadcast to the public, directly to the international public. Zelenskyy addressed the Canadian parliament on Tuesday.
As the war has unfolded, Congress’ prodding of the White House to get more involved in Ukraine has worked. It was Congress that pushed the White House to ban the importation of Russian oil, a prohibition Biden announced only after it became clear Congress would have done so without him.
Republicans in particular have pushed Biden for greater engagement.
“Provide them the MiGs [jets], provide them the planes and they can create a no-fly zone,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Zelenskyy “has never asked for American men or women to be in a battle zone. All he’s ever asked for is: ‘Give us an opportunity to defend ourselves.’”
“They need more Javelins [portable anti-tank missiles]. They need more ammo. They need more Stingers [surface-to-air missiles]. ...They need more airplanes. They need more of everything,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
“Zelenskyy has the courage of his convictions. The question he asked the Congress and the United States government is, will we have the courage of ours? We’re a superpower. We should act like it,” Sasse said.
Zelenskyy asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a phone call last week if he could deliver the address to Congress.
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(Los Angeles Times staff writer Eli Stokols contributed to this report.)
