WASHINGTON — In the first virtual presentation by a foreign leader to Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal the U.S. on Wednesday for an urgent round of financial support and more weaponry to assist his country stave off the invasion by Russia.
"Friends, Ukraine is grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support for everything that your government and your people have done for us for weapons and ammunition," Zelenskyy said, wearing a camouflage green T-shirt from an office inside his war-torn nation's capital, with the Ukrainian flag beside him.
"I call on you to do more. New packages of sanctions are needed… every week until the Russian military machine stops," he said, asking for sanctions on every politician in the Russian federation.
Speaking mostly through a translator, he 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. "Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death."
Zelenskyy showed a short video depicting graphic violence in Ukraine, including bombings and injured children.
Afterward, speaking briefly in English, Zelenskyy noted that is 45 years old, but that "my age stopped when the hearts of more than 100 children stop beating. I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths."
Zelenskyy's 20-minute plea comes as Congress — impressed by Ukraine's ability to hold back Russia and Zelenskyy's leadership— has pushed the White House to get more involved in aiding the country.
Lawmakers greeted him with a standing ovation. Zelenskyy addressed the Canadian parliament on Tuesday.
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.
Regarding his request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, he asked, "Is it not too much to ask?"
The Ukrainian leader wants the U.S. government to send more financial aid, impose stiffer sanctions on Moscow and get more aggressive in both arming and defending Ukraine. The Biden administration has rebuffed his requests for fighter jets and the imposition of a no-fly zone over the country. It believes such actions could escalate the conflict.
Zelenskyy's address will put new pressure on the administration. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer invited him to address the body.
As the war has unfolded, Congress's prodding of the White House 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.
Biden is scheduled to address the nation from the White House at 8:45 a.m. Pacific.
