Closing summary
Thank you to all our US politics live blog readers who’ve tuned in today for what has been a very busy and significant news day. We’re closing up this blog a little earlier than usual at the moment, to focus more of the Guardian’s resources on our extremely popular, round-the-clock global Ukraine crisis live blog. So please do follow all the developments in the war there. This blog will be back on Thursday morning.
Here’s where the day went:
- In an interview airing tonight on NBC, a sliver of which was previewed earlier, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will tell news host Lester Holt that world war three “may have already begun”.
- Joe Biden made brief comments at the White House, in response to a reporter’s question, calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
- The US president pledged an extra $800 million for security assistance to Ukraine, out of the almost $14bn in aid for the embattled country that was passed by Congress last week and signed into law by Biden yesterday.
- Joe Biden promised more arms for Ukraine in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s speech to Congress - though no fighter jets.
- During his address to the US Congress on Wednesday morning, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy unexpectedly paused to play a video prepared by his government - a graphic portrait of the Ukrainian people being assailed by the horrors of war.
- Zelenskiy asked Congress if it is “too much to ask” Nato allies, including the US, to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine (while acknowledging that it may, indeed, be too much, and Nato leaders have now reasserted the alliance’s stance against such a move), and invoked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic 1963 anti-racism “I have a dream” speech, with the Ukrainian leader saying “I have a need” for the help needed to prevent Russia crushing Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy addressed the US Congress in an historic event, speaking remotely via video from his bunker in Kyiv as Russia pounds Ukraine, and said to America “I call on you to do more” to aid the country’s anti-war effort.
The Kremlin has slammed Joe Biden for calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
And Putin says his war is going to plan. Here’s a brief round-up of some of the latest from the Reuters news agency:
Russian bombs rained down on Ukrainian cities on Wednesday, Ukrainian official said, despite talk of compromise from both Moscow and Kyiv in peace negotiations after three weeks of war.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready to discuss neutral status for its neighbour but would still achieve the goals of its operation, which he said was “going to plan”.
But Putin acknowledged that Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its actions were hurting.
In Washington, US president Joe Biden called Putin a “war criminal”.
The US is not seeing Russia take any actions that would suggest progress in talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Earlier, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said talks between Moscow and Kyiv were becoming “more realistic” and Russia’s foreign minister said proposals under discussion were “close to an agreement”.
On the 21st day of the conflict, Russian forces kept up their bombardments of besieged cities, including intensified shelling of the capital Kyiv.
And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Biden’s characterization of Putin as a war criminal was “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric”, Tass news agency said.
Putin’s forces have been bombarding Ukrainian civilians, seemingly on purpose, which would make a case for war crimes.
Updated
Zelenskiy warns: 'World war three may already have begun'
Fresh from addressing the US Congress this morning, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky will appear on NBC’s Nightly News tonight to tell host Lester Holt, alarmingly, that he believes a third world war may already be under way.
“Nobody knows whether it may already have started and what is the possibility of this war, if Ukraine will fall,” Zelenskiy tells Holt in a short video clip trailing the interview released by NBC this afternoon.
“It’s very hard to say. We saw this 80 years ago when the second world war started, and there were similar tragedies in history. Nobody would be able to predict when the full-scale war would start, how it will end and who will put an end to that.
“In this case we have the whole [of] civilization at stake,” Zelenskiy adds.
The interview airs on NBC at 6.30pm EST. The excerpt is here
The White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed to reporters at her afternoon briefing on Wednesday that Joe Biden considers the Russian president Vladimir Putin to be “a war criminal.”
Her comments followed an exchange between Biden and a journalist immediately following his earlier briefing, when the president was asked if he was ready to call Putin a war criminal over his invasion of Ukraine.
After originally replying “no,”, Biden turned back and said: “Oh, I think he is a war criminal.”
Psaki said Biden’s comments “speak for themselves.”
“He was answering a direct question that was asked, and responding to what he has seen on television. We have all seen barbaric acts, horrific acts by a foreign dictator in a country that is threatening and taking the lives of civilians, impacting hospitals, women who are pregnant, journalists, others.”
“He was speaking from his heart,” Psaki added.
President Biden: "I think he is a war criminal." pic.twitter.com/R5547PUXKr
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 16, 2022
Psaki was asked if anything had changed to prompt Biden to give that assessment, and why he had declined to use the term in the three weeks of the war so far.
“He speaking from what he’d seen on television, which is barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country,” she said, acknowledging that there was a more formal process for the state department to officially designate a foreign leader as a war criminal.
“There is a legal process that is ongoing, the state department has oversight over that.”
Psaki also clarified Biden’s comments over the US “security assistance” package to Ukraine, “to make sure everybody fully understands the totality of assistance.”
“What the president announced today was an additional $800m in security systems to Ukraine, bringing the total US security assistance to $1bn in just the past week, and more than $2bn since the start of the Biden administration,” she said.
“This assistance will take the form of direct transfers of equipment from the department of defense to the Ukrainian military to help them defend their country against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion.”
Updated
Here’s a slightly fuller clip of Joe Biden referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
The short exchange took place between the US president and a Fox News reporter at the White House, as Biden worked the room that was mainly filled with lawmakers and women’s rights advocates, after celebrating the re-upping of the Violence Against Women Act.
The voice of the reporter, Jacqui Heinrich, cut through the hubbub as she asked Biden if he thought Putin was a war criminal and Biden said “no”, then walked away as she called after him asking if he’ll go to Poland (presumably in the same trip next week where he goes to Brussels to talk to Nato and EU leaders) and if he’ll meet with Putin.
Perhaps not having digested or fully heard the question, after greeting some of the non-media people at the gathering Biden turns back and comes towards Heinrich again, obviously seeking clarification on the question, which she repeats.
Biden then says: “Oh, I think he is a war criminal”, giving her an instant scoop, but ignores her other repeated questions as he bustles away back to talk to others.
🚨This marks the first time the administration has referred to the Russian President as a war criminal - until now, officials have shied away from that language.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) March 16, 2022
POTUS tells me “I think he is a war criminal”
(Thanks to @kwelkernbc for the camera work 🎥) pic.twitter.com/u4fLdkxMbt
Biden calls Russia's Putin a 'war criminal'
Joe Biden has just told reporters covering him at the White House, moments ago, that Russian president Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal” over his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“He is a war criminal,” Biden said, the Reuters news agency reports.
Here’s the clip:
Asked if he is ready to call Putin a war criminal, Joe Biden replies, “No.”
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) March 16, 2022
Later walks back to clarify, “Oh, I think he is a war criminal.” https://t.co/BCL3CWQldH
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last month and is accused of deliberately targeting civilians there, deemed a war crime by international standards.
In a chaotic scene, reporters crowded around Biden after an event at the White House where he was celebrating the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Biden was asked if Putin is a war criminal and he denied it, then circled back and said: “I think he is a war criminal.”
Updated
Some more background on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which Joe Biden just celebrated at the White House with a room full of lawmakers and advocates.
Reuters reports:
He renewed the act a day earlier while signing a massive spending bill into law, amid an alarming spike in domestic violence coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic, which has added urgency to the issue.
The law expands protections for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, broadens access to legal services for survivors and provides more resources and training programs for law enforcement, among other steps.
Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner in the United States, according to a new report by the research arm of gun safety advocacy group Everytown, that claims intimate partner violence and gun violence in the US are inextricably linked.
“The law has saved lives, and that’s helped women rebuild their lives and make children a heck of a lot safer,” Biden said on Tuesday while signing the spending bill, which reauthorized and strengthened the law. He reiterated the point on Wednesday.
He said the law will now do more for survivors in rural areas and in underserved communities. For example, tribal courts will now be able to exercise jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of sexual assault and sex trafficking, he said.
The law was first written by Biden in 1994 when he was a US Senator. It expired under then-president Donald Trump in 2019.
In 2018, the United States was named as the only Western nation among the 10 most dangerous countries for women, in a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of global experts, after the #MeToo campaign triggered a flood of complaints about sexual harassment and assault.
Joe Biden is now speaking again at the White House to mark the long-stalled reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
“This law has saved lives,” the US president said.
Here’s some background from CNN’s website.
The landmark law is aimed at protecting and supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Biden helped write the original piece of legislation that was enacted in 1994 when he was a senator from Delaware and has long been a champion of the law.
The legislation requires renewal every five years, and it lapsed several years ago largely due to a partisan disagreement over whether to ban dating partners and stalkers convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms.
The current law bans a spouse convicted of domestic violence from purchasing or possessing a firearm, but Democrats have long sought to close the so-called boyfriend loophole and extend that rule to dating partners.
Republicans and the National Rifle Association are strongly opposed to such a provision.
After several years of failed attempts at reauthorizing the legislation, a bipartisan group of senators announced last month they had reached a deal and that the “boyfriend loophole” provision had been dropped.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said at the time that it was a “tough choice” to agree to drop it but that it simply did not have the votes needed to pass.
The reauthorization of the law was included in a massive spending bill that Biden signed into law on Tuesday. The legislation will fund the federal government through September and provide $13.6 billion in additional aid to Ukraine as the country fights back against Russia’s invasion.
CNN’s full report is here.
Interim summary
It’s been a very busy morning in US national politics, entirely dominated by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s speech to Congress. White House press secretary Jen Psaki will be briefing shortly. And Joe Biden is speaking now at an event pegged to the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women act. More on that in moments.
But here’s where things stand right now:
- Joe Biden announced an extra $800m pledged in security assistance from US to Ukraine, to buy more weapons and military equipment, as part of a much larger package of aid.
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy aired a video during his address to Congress, prepared by his government in Ukrainian, which graphically and poignantly showed images from a happy people suddenly plunged into the horrors of war.
- The Ukrainian president invoked US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech that demanded racial equality. “I have a need,” Zelenskiy said in an appeal for more western assistance to resist Russian aggression.
- “I call on you to do more,” Zelenskiy said to Congress, also saying “Right now the destiny of our country is being decided.”
At the beginning of his address to the US Congress this morning, from his bunker in Kyiv, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine will not give up in its resistance to the invasion by Russia last month.
“We have not even thought about it for a second,” he said.
Here is the Guardian’s 10-minute highlight video clip from the speech, which excludes the graphic video Zelenskiy aired in the middle of his address. There will be a separate highlighted clip prepared from that. The full speech and the full video were featured earlier today in this blog.
Here’s the speech highlight:
Updated
British journalist Benjamin Hall, who was seriously injured in a Russian artillery attack in Ukraine that killed two colleagues working for Fox News, left the country “in good spirits” on Wednesday to continue his recovery in an undisclosed location.
The news was shared in a memo to staff from Fox News Media chief executive Suzanne Scott, who said Hall, 39, the channel’s state department correspondent, was awake and responsive.
“Ben is alert and in good spirits. He is being treated with the best possible care in the world and we are in close contact with his wife and family. Please continue to keep him in your prayers,” Scott wrote.
Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, 24, died in Monday’s attack in Horenka, a village outside of Kyiv. Hall suffered serious injuries to his legs.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was reporting in Ukraine when he was injured by incoming fire that killed two colleagues, is safe and out of the country, according to the network.
— ABC News (@ABC) March 16, 2022
Hall "is alert and said to be in good spirits," the network says. https://t.co/YBkvN0vZX6 pic.twitter.com/QFqRZ5wbhd
Here are some additional quotes in video clips from Joe Biden just now in his response to the speech to Congress by Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“What’s at stake here are the principles that the United States and the United Nations across the world stand for. It’s about freedom,” the US president said.
"What's at stake here are the principles that the United States and the United Nations across the world stand for. It's about freedom." - @POTUS announced $800 million in additional aide to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/vGtzbM1ZJL
— CNN (@CNN) March 16, 2022
And, in reference to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“This is a struggle that pits the appetites of an autocrat against humankind’s desire to be free, and let there be no doubt, no uncertainty, no question, America stands with the forces of freedom. We always have, we always will.”
President Biden: "This is a struggle that pits the appetites of an autocrat against humankind's desire to be free, and let there be no doubt, no uncertainty, no question, America stands with the forces of freedom. We always have, we always will." https://t.co/xfrEPgGpK8 pic.twitter.com/3tcKaeYCUU
— The Hill (@thehill) March 16, 2022
Updated
“We are going to stay the course. We’re going to do everything we can to push for and end this tragic, unnecessary war,” Joe Biden just said at the White House.
He promised that “more is on the way” in terms of weapons for Ukraine. He warned it could be a long and difficult battle against Russia.
Now as he winds down, reporters are shouting questions, but Biden says he won’t comment.
He just signed approval for an additional $800m in military aid for Ukraine.
His address is over. It was actually shorter and, perhaps, less passionate than we expected, given how evocative the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s speech was to Congress this morning.
Two things he did not announce, which is not a surprise: no deal to a Nato-imposed no-fly zone over Ukraine and no news on supplying fighter jets for Ukraine to fly up against Russian air forces.
Updated
Biden praises $800m in new security assistance from US to Ukraine
“I thank the Congress for appropriating these funds,” Joe Biden said. He is listing anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems, and millions of artillery and mortar rounds, and other hardware including longer-range systems.
“This will include drones,” the US president said of the additional assistance, which. No detail yet. Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine has asked for the US to provide armed drones to hit back at Russian invasive forces.
“We are going to continue to mobilize humanitarian relief,” he said. Biden’s listing “tens of thousands of tons” of food and water provided, and efforts to help refugees fleeing across the western borders from Ukraine into Poland, Moldova, Romania.
“We will keep up the pressure on Putin’s crumbling economy,” he said. Of this new package, $200m was already announced last week, so outlining the extra $800m for defense is new and brings the total pledged in the last week to $1bn. This is all part of the almost-$14bn of aid for Ukraine approved by Congress last week.
U.S. will provide $800 million MORE in military aid to Ukraine: Biden
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) March 16, 2022
This includes:
• 800 anti-aircraft systems (including longer-range)
• 9,000 anti-armor systems
• 7,000 small arms (machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers)
• 20 million rounds of ammo
• Drones
Updated
Joe Biden promises more arms for Ukraine in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy speech
The US president is speaking now at the White House. He is calling Russian bombardment and encroachment on Ukraine “god awful” and “appalling”.
“We are going to do more in the coming days and weeks.”
He said there will “never” be victory for Russia in Ukraine, regardless of what their military does.
“The world is united in our support for Ukraine and our determination to make Putin pay a heavy price,” Biden said.
He then went on to outline $1bn more in military aid for Ukraine, as part of a huge almost $14bn package of aid approved by Congress last week.
Biden said he is “fully committed” to supplying additional weapons to Ukraine. “More is coming,” he said. However this does not include Nato jets being supplied to Ukraine nor imposing a no-fly zone over the country.
Updated
The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, whom many may not have been familiar with before she popped up on Capitol Hill for Joe Biden’s state of the union address earlier this month, as the guest of first lady Jill Biden.
She was given a standing ovation, as many lawmakers dressed in pale blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and/or wore sunflower motifs and brooches, the representative flower of Ukraine.
But now Markarova is a familiar face on Capitol Hill and in many of the public’s minds. She of course was present in the packed House chamber this morning to hear her president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, give a remote address by video to Congress.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was seen talking to her for about 10 minutes after Zelenskiy’s address. Afterwards, the California congresswoman spoke of the wrenching video the Ukrainian president played during his address, showing horrendous bombings and killings by Russia.
An emotional Speaker Nancy Pelosi escorted Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Markarova out of the room after the speech.
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) March 16, 2022
Pelosi told me afterwards: "The film was overwhelming, with the children. The brutality of the Russians - they’re war crimes right before our very eyes."
There were brave words from the ambassador.
Ambassador Oksana Markarova told colleague @jonallendc that air support “will save more lives,” regardless of whether that comes in the form of a no-fly zone, planes or both.
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) March 16, 2022
Could Ukraine survive w/o no-fly zone? “We will prevail and we will not surrender" @OMarkarova said
And here’s Kentucky Republican Andy Barr.
Inspiring speech this morning by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Congress. I had the chance to speak with @OMarkarova, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. about my support for Ukraine, including my bill to close the Russian energy loophole in U.S. sanctions. @MFA_Ukraine pic.twitter.com/3YzkD2xgF9
— Rep. Andy Barr (@RepAndyBarr) March 16, 2022
Joe Biden was due to address the public in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy at 11.45am, Washington time (EDT), but the speech has been put back and is now expected in just a few more minutes. We’ll have a live feed at the top of this blog.
The Ukrainian president’s speech to Congress earlier was more conciliatory to the US and its Nato allies than expected, so it remains to be seen how Biden will respond.
He’s expected to announce more military aid from within the almost $14bn of aid for Ukraine agreed by Congress last week and signed into law by the US president yesterday.
But what kind of weaponry Ukraine can expect from the US will be interesting. Ukraine wants a no-fly zone and Nato-supplied jets. America says no. He wants armed drones. What will Biden do?
Politico reported first thing today that Biden is expected, per the Wall Street Journal (paywall), to announce $1bn in ‘new’ security assistance for Ukraine. But “the devil is in the detail”:
The $1 billion figure includes $200 million in previously appropriated funds that Biden already announced over the weekend, and $800 million in new funds from the $13.6 billion aid package signed into law on Tuesday. But that $13.6 billion figure is a bit misleading. According to a House of Representatives fact sheet, only $3.5 billion of it is for military aid to Ukraine (“to replenish U.S. stocks of equipment sent to Ukraine through drawdown”).
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s strategy of likening the attacks on his country to prominent moments in US history stretched beyond references to Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In his address to Congress, the Ukraine president invoked the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and specifically his iconic 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
“I have a dream. These words are known to each of you today,” Zelenskiy told the lawmakers.
“I can say I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision. Your help. Which means exactly the same. The same you feel when you hear the words. ‘I have a dream’.”
The impact of King’s speech on the civil rights movement has been under scrutiny for decades although, as the Guardian’s Gary Younge reported on its 50th anniversary in 2013, the actual words “I have a dream” were almost dropped at the last minute. Ultimately, the address was accepted as a defining moment of the struggle for racial equality.
As a former actor himself, Zelenskiy is no stranger to the powerful symbolism of public performance, and will have been acutely aware that his references to King would be poignant to his audience of American lawmakers.
In similar fashion, the Ukraine leader’s virtual address to the joint UK Houses of Parliament last week was delivered partly in the style of the country’s second world war leader Winston Churchill, with declarations that Ukraine would fight Russia in the “forests, fields, shores and streets.”
Chrissy Houlahan, an Army veteran and Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania, who sits on the House armed services committee, noted Zelenskiy’s deliberate choice of words.
“It was an incredibly compelling and powerful and sobering conversation that President Zelenskiy had with the Congress,” she told CNN.
“He, not surprisingly, is a very good communicator and was very articulate in communicating what he was asking of us.”
President Zelenskyy delivered a powerful and sobering address not only to the Congress but also to all who value peace and democracy.
— Chrissy Houlahan (@RepHoulahan) March 16, 2022
We must all ask ourselves how long we can delay providing the aircraft and weapons Ukrainians need.
I say we cannot delay one moment longer. https://t.co/ojKsBT7PlV
Houlahan, whose father was born in the western Ukraine city of Lviv, urged her colleagues to heed the lessons of history that Zelenskiy alluded to.
“This is personal to me. But it’s personal to everyone because we should all be students of history, and we should all know what this looks like. This definitely looks like 1939,” she said.
Updated
Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer praised Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the Ukrainian president’s speech to the US Congress but also warned against the US being pushed into something that could spiral into “all out war” between Russia and the west.
“President Zelenskiy’s speech was magnificent. And people were anguished. The request to shut down in the skies is compelling. But I think every one of us are deeply concerned about this spiraling into all out war.
“And this man [Russian president Vladimir] Putin is evil, and I don’t think any of us feel that it is beyond his capacity to use tactical nuclear weapons. He’s completely unhinged, untethered to reality, and we’re all playing with fire here.
“But it’s an amazing leader that they have and I think it was a signal here to make sure that we continue looking for everything that we can do collectively. And it has helped kind of to bring folks together around here when they don’t do that very often.
Further on the Ukrainian request for Nato to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to repel Russian aerial bombardment, the congressman said: “I think he’s making an argument that he needs to make. I don’t necessarily believe that it will spiral in that way that fast. I think it’s hard to say, when people are dying, but erring on the side of caution, for something that doesn’t spiral out of control, and allow some of the tools that we’ve put in place.
“Because the Russian economy has cratered, there are indications that this is getting through to some of the Russian people despite the the media ‘Iron Curtain’, the Russian military has been displayed as inept, ill-prepared, confused.
“So there are forces at work here that give me some hope but that’s easy to say from a distance and they’re not my constituents and family that are having bombs rained down on them.”
Blumenauer recently tweeted about US steps to cut normal trading relations with Russia.
I am delighted President Biden rallied our allies to revoke Russia’s Most-Favored Nation status by ending Permanent Normal Trade Relations. Congress must move swiftly to pass @LloydDoggettTX and my legislation next week to further isolate Russia from the global economy.
— Earl Blumenauer (@repblumenauer) March 11, 2022
You can read more of our full report from Guardian US here.
Updated
Democratic congressman Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, speaking in the halls of Capitol Hill after Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s remote address, conceded that any plan to send Soviet-style MiG fighter jets from Nato to Ukraine remained stalled.
But he told reporters that the US had already managed to transfer a number of S-300s to Ukraine, a surface-to-air missile system
“The S-300s is the alternative of which even President Zelenskiy mentioned in his statement,” Meeks said. “Some of them are there now.”
“I think the S-300s is a big deal. We’ve been working on that for a while. Now that’s not classified anymore, I’m glad to let that out.
“I think that as President Zelenskiy said, that is a good alternative to something I don’t think we can actually control and that is the MiGs.
“The deal - to make sure people are clear on the issue of the MiGs - those are Polish planes that Ukraine can operate. And when I was in Poland just a week ago I thought the deal was done. But the deal called for Ukrainian pilots to come to Poland to pick them up and fly them back over. And we would backfill the Poles with new planes.
“The next thing that we heard was that now the Poles would not let Ukraine pick them up from Poland. They wanted to fly the planes to Germany to the Unites States [military] base [there] and then for us to somehow make arrangements with Ukraine. That can’t happen that way. That’s too dangerous.
That puts us closer to World War III. And I think that’s what the [US] President was talking about all along.”
When asked if some sort of plan to get MiG fighter jets to the Ukrainian air force was still on the table, Meeks said: “Yes, I think everything is on the table in that regard. But in the meanwhile, we’ve got to do something. And the S-300s is the alternative...”
Meeks recently visited the Polish-Ukrainian border and told MSNBC the sight of exhausted refugees arriving was “devastating”.
Rep. Gregory Meeks discusses his recent trip to the Ukraine border with Poland where he led a bipartisan delegation.https://t.co/AeyhNEUz6B
— The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross (@CrossConnection) March 15, 2022
Updated
New Jersey Democratic representative and former diplomat Tomas Malinowski, who was born in Poland, spoke in the halls of Capitol Hill a little earlier about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s balancing act in pleading with the west to impose a no-fly zone over his country, while appearing to acknowledge that this is not in the offing.
Good. Aircraft would help, too, but this is a much more practical and effective way to clear the skies. https://t.co/OnYgKvYKk5
— Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) March 16, 2022
“I liked his speech,” Malinowski said.
“It was exactly the right kind of emotional appeal to the American people without trying to play to our politics. It was a unifying speech.
“It was it, it conveyed appreciation for what we have done - the Congress and President Biden - with an appropriate request to do more. But the request was made in a way that we could answer it.
“The point of the no-fly zone request is to make us feel guilty that we can’t do the no-fly zone so that we work even harder on everything that we can do.
“It’s brilliant. It’s exactly what he should be doing. It’s effective. And this was a clear example of it... ‘No Fly Zone, but if you can’t, here’s the alternative’.
“And he led with the S-300 [surface-to-air missile systems], which shows a degree of realism that I really respect because that is not only more possible, but that’s actually a much more effective way of achieving his goal of clearing the skies [of Russian jets that are bombarding Ukraine].”
President Zelensky delivered a powerful and moving message to Congress, and to all Americans today. The most important point was that Ukrainians aren't just fighting for their country, but for the principles and rules that protect all countries. https://t.co/WE3WRQvXG5
— Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) March 16, 2022
Updated
Images of bodies being tossed into open graves; of bloodied and mutilated children; buildings destroyed as Russian missiles rain down from the sky; and scenes of weeping refugees with their meager belongings attempting to flee Ukraine’s besieged cities.
Rarely, if ever, has the US Congress witnessed anything like the powerfully moving and brutally graphic video presented by Volodymyr Zelenskiy during his address to the US Congress.
“This is a murder,” a caption across the screen states simply, as images flash behind it of a family lying dead in the street, of a mass grave, and a man crying next to a loved one’s body, covered by a blood-soaked blanket on a hospital gurney.
The intensity of the 2min 20sec video was punctuated by interspersed scenes of Ukraine in happier times, just a few weeks ago, a brief city-by-city tour of families enjoying the freedom of the open air, their children in playgrounds, and feeding pigeons. An old man with a walking stick enjoys a stroll in the park - until the street in front of him explodes into a fireball as a missile lands.
The message from such imagery was clear: this could be any western city, including within the United States. Zelenskiy’s remarks, likening the barrage his country is enduring to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the horrors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, will have resonated with Congress members.
“You could hear a pin drop and some lawmakers wiped away tears as [Zelenskiy] played a video of the horrors that have unfolded in his country,” NBC’s chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker tweeted.
The video closes with more images of injured children, dead bodies, and the devastation caused by Russia’s aerial bombardment, then the screen turns to black with the plea: “Close the sky over Ukraine.”
Whether the video, or Zelenskiy’s wider appeal for help, will have any effect on Joe Biden’s position remains to be seen, but some lawmakers were immediately moved.
“We need to give them what they need,” the Ohio Republican congressman Bill Johnson said in a video he recorded as he left the chamber following the Ukraine president’s speech.
“We need to give them the missiles, [and] both manned and unmanned aircraft, so that they can set up their own no-fly zone. And we need to provide humanitarian assistance to the millions that have been driven from their homes, their families slaughtered, their schools destroyed.”
Here’s the full video, posted by The Recount
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy showed this powerful video to Congress, depicting Ukraine before and during the invasion.
— The Recount (@therecount) March 16, 2022
The video ends with a familiar call for a no-fly zone: "Close the sky over Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/8nG0w9sv4y
Joe Biden is due to speak at the White House in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s address to Congress earlier. The US president is expected to make an address at 11.45am Washington time (EDT/3.45pm GMT).
He will speak about US military and security assistance to Ukraine but is not expected to announce a no-fly zone or the supply of Soviet-designed fighter jets from Nato to Ukraine. It’s not known whether he is prepared to commit to supplying armed drones to Ukraine, which is something else Zelenskiy wants, in addition to anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems and communications-blocking systems to combat Russia’s advance.
Biden will give more details on what is expected to be a pledge of an extra $800m in security assistance to Ukraine, out of the almost $14bn aid bill passed in Congress last week and signed by him yesterday, which is a mix of military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
The president will be joined by secretary of state Antony Blinken, deputy secretary of defense Kathleen Hicks and head of the joint chiefs of staff, general Mark Milley.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Belgian capital, Brussels, meeting Nato counterparts. Biden will go to Brussels next week to talk to Nato and European Union allies about the crisis in Ukraine.
If you would like to read our global blog about all the other developments in and about Ukraine, as well or instead of our US politics news blog, that round-the-clock blog is here. It also includes details of what Russia is touting as the possible beginnings of a peace agreement (bearing in mind it said on the eve of war that it had no intention of invading Ukraine).
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Here’s more of what Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his address to the US Congress last hour, in calling once again for Nato allies, led by the US, to impose a no-fly zone over his country in order to force back Russian aerial bombardment.
There is no question right now that Russia has comprehensive air superiority in this war, even while their ground forces appear to be bogged down for the time being in their advances on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.
He said, in the words of the interpreter giving a voice over in English: “Russia has turned the Ukrainian skies into a source of death for thousands of people. Russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at Ukraine, countless bombs [and] drones to kill us with precision.
“This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years and we are asking for a reply, for an answer to this terror, from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people.
“Is this too much to ask? Humanitarian no-fly zone?”
Zelenskyy calls for a "humanitarian" no-fly zone over Ukraine.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 16, 2022
“This is a terror that Europe has not seen, has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for a reply, for an an answer to this terror from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for?” pic.twitter.com/7v9uZwxGE8
There had been speculation that Zelenskiy would appeal to US lawmakers and the public using similar words to those he used in front of the Canadian parliament yesterday, asking if they could imagine the kind of death and destruction being rained on Ukraine happening to their cities, families and friends.
But he didn’t go down that route, instead showing a video that very clearly displayed the horrific impact on ordinary humans of war.
It ended with a message saying “Close the sky over Ukraine”. But the US and its Nato allies have held firm so far that they won’t mobilize to impose a no-fly zone there, because it would inevitably mean Nato fighter jets shooting down Russian ones, which would swiftly and unequivocally be seen by Vladimir Putin as Nato entering a war against Russia.
Joe Biden fears this could lead to a third world war.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the US Congress seated in a high-backed office chair with a plain white wall behind him and a prominently-displayed Ukrainian flag to his right.
He was neatly turned out with a trimmed beard and wearing what has become his characteristic combat-green tee shirt, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month and he was forced to shelter in a hidden bunker somewhere in Kyiv with his top team.
He began with hand over heart and ended his address with a smile and a wave as the packed chamber of the House of Representatives, where representatives and US senators had gathered in a crowd of many hundreds, gave him a bipartisan standing ovation.
Here is the speech in full via our YouTube channel, and we’ll have a highlights clip forthcoming. Please note that this is “as it happened” and therefore will include the Ukrainian government video Zelenskiy played in the middle, which includes many graphic images and footage of those wounded and killed by Russia’s invasion, as well as old, young and infirm people struggling to evacuate amid heavy aerial bombardment.
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Zelenskiy played poignant and upsetting video
During his address to the US Congress moments ago, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy unexpectedly paused to play a video prepared by his government.
The video was both poignant and upsetting, and has graphic images of death, including images of the bodies of children and children badly injured while medics try to save their lives in hospital.
Here's the video Zelenskiy played for U.S. lawmakers today (via @joshscampbell).pic.twitter.com/UgBhdqX5Ql
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) March 16, 2022
It begins with joyful scenes of normal life in Ukraine just a few weeks ago, and juxtaposes images of buildings being bombed, and images of happy people then stills of people weeping in shock and grief, and people desperately fleeing.
The video is going viral online. It was clearly a strategic move by Zelenskiy as the mainstream media carefully calibrates what images it will show on TV, in newspapers and online, in terms of graphic images of death. This video went much further than what the west has seen on its screens so far in this war.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is almost 45 years old but there is no point in living “if we cannot stop the death”.
He switches into English to say: “As the leader of the nation I am addressing President Biden, you are the leader of the nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Thank you.”
Then in Ukrainian he finishes by saying “Glory to Ukraine.”
He is waving on screen as he receives a universal standing ovation from the hundreds of representatives and senators gathered on Capitol Hill.
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Zelenskiy is asking the west to unite as a union of “responsible countries that have the consciousness to stop conflict immediately”.
He invokes the speed with which vaccines against the coronavirus were developed and says if that kind of collective will were to come together to help Ukraine further combat Russia “we will be able to save thousands of lives in our country”.
Now, with a soaring violin score, Zelenzkiy shows a heartbreaking video of the bombardment of Ukrainians, including sobbing children trying to evacuate.
It ends with the plea on screen saying “Close the sky”.
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Zelenskiy invokes MLK: 'I have a need'
The Ukrainian president just asked, rhetorically, if it is “too much to ask” Nato allies, including the US, to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
He says if it’s too much, Ukraine also needs vastly more anti-aircraft systems from the west.
He invokes civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I have a dream” speech delivered in Washington DC, in a plea against systemic racism, in 1963.
“I have a need,” he said.
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Zelenskiy: "I call on you to do more"
“Right now the destiny of our country is being decided, the destiny of our people,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy tells US Congress.
The Ukrainian president says the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is about more than Ukraine, it’s about democracy, freedom, and choosing your own path. It’s also about “Europe and the world.”
He tells the US to hear him “when we need you right now”.
He’s telling America to remember the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan in 1941 that brought the US fully into the second world war, remember the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US by al-Qaida terrorists.
What is happening to Ukraine is something “Europe has not seen in 80 years,” he said.
“I call on you to do more,” Zelenskiy said.
He noted that Russia has “turned the skies into a source of death” for troops and the public in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has now been experiencing the equivalent destruction and horror of a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor “every day for three weeks”.
Almost 3,000 people died on 9/11 when hijacked passenger jets were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, into the Pentagon on the outskirts of Washington, DC, and a final one crashing into a field after passengers overpowered the hijackers en route to the capital.
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Ukraine's Zelenskiy addresses Congress
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appeared on a large screen in the House of Representatives, ready to address a packed chamber full of members of Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now introducing Zelenskiy and praised his “courageous” defenses against invading Russian forces.
She also spoke a little Ukrainian.
Now Zelenskiy is beginning, saying he is proud to address Congress from Kyiv under fire from Russia, while the country is “not giving up”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered a powerful, and oftentimes personal address to Canada’s parliament on Tuesday, asking prime minister Justin Trudeau how he would feel if it were his country facing the Russian onslaught.
“Imagine that at 4am each of you start hearing bomb explosions. Severe explosions. Justin, can you imagine hearing it? You, your children hear all these severe explosions: bombing of airport, bombing of Ottawa airport, tens of other cities of your wonderful country. Can you imagine that?” Zelenskiy said.
“What words? How can you explain to your children full-scale aggression just happened in your country? You know that this is war to annihilate your state, your country. You know that this is the war to subjugate your people.”
The themes of Zelenskiy’s Canadian address, asking for more military and humanitarian aid, and a Nato-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, broadly echoed his speech to the UK parliament a week earlier.
During his virtual address to British MPs, Zelenskiy invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill’s second world war speeches, stating that Ukraine would fight Russia “until the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost.
“We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets,” he said.
Zelenskiy expected to thank for aid, also shame US over military shortfall
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address the US Congress, remotely from his bunker in Kyiv, via video link, in what will be one of the most extraordinary scenes on Capitol Hill in recent memory,
The wartime leader has made no secret of the fact that he is increasingly frustrated by the west’s refusal to use allied air forces to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to try to stop the Russian aerial bombardment on Ukrainian cities.
An idea to send Soviet-style fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine, via US military facilities in Germany, also collapsed earlier this month, as Joe Biden was wary it could be interpreted by Russia as drawing Nato into war.
Zelenskiy is expected to thank the US for strong assistance so far and economic sanctions on Russia, but also to shame and emotionally appeal to lawmakers to get more involved as Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be out to crush Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president recently gave a remote talk to a group of members of Congress behind closed doors. But his public address today is of the highest profile. He recently gave a powerful address to the British House of Commons, invoking Shakespearean and Churchillian themes, and he addressed Canada’s parliament yesterday.
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Ukraine's Zelenskiy to address US Congress
Good morning, US politics live blog readers, thanks for tuning in. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address Congress, remotely from Kyiv, today in a vital address as his country and city are under fire from the Russian invasion. We will have live coverage here. If you would like to follow more of our global, round-the-clock coverage of the war in Ukraine, that live blog can be reached here.
Here’s what’s on today’s US agenda:
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy will make an address to the US Congress at 9am Washington time. We’ll have a live feed, as well as bringing you all the main points in our posts. He is expected to call on the US to do more to help the Ukraine resist being crushed by its more powerful neighbor, Russia.
- Joe Biden is due to make remarks in response to the Ukrainian president’s speech at 11.45am Washington timeand pledge more in military aid, likely a fresh $800m to come out of the massive $13.6bn aid bill passed by Congress last week and now signed by Biden.
- The US president is expected to announce extra security assistance for Ukraine by way of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons but the US has so far held fast in refusing to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine or to channel fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian air forces, for fear of drawing Nato into war with Russia and unleashing “world war three”.
- US defense secretary Lloyd Austin is in Brussels meeting with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg as the Atlantic military alliance steps up forces up to – but not over – allies’ borders with Russia.
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