Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday referred to Pearl Harbor and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, while appealing for more help from the US parliament in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. In his live telecast address on the US Parliament House complex, Zelensky said the US must impose sanctions on Russian lawmakers and stop imports from Russia. Also, he showed a touching video of the devastation and destruction caused by the war in his country in an auditorium packed with parliamentarians.
“We need you now,” said Zelensky. “I appeal to you (to help) more,” he said. “More important than income is peace,” he called for more economic sanctions on the Russians. Before and after his address, MPs stood on their seats and greeted him.
Zelensky can now address Spain’s parliament as well. Biden will also address the US parliament after Zelensky’s address, according to a White House official, in which he is expected to announce $800 million in security aid to Ukraine. With that, the total amount announced only last week will increase to a billion dollars.
This includes funding for anti-armored and air-defense weapons, the official said. Now dressed in a green army livery, Zelensky has emerged as a hero at the center of the war, which many countries see as the biggest threat to Europe since World War II. Nearly three million refugees have fled Ukraine, the fastest growing migration in modern times. He mentioned Winston Churchill and Hamlet during his address to Britain’s ‘House of Commons’ last week. He appealed to Canada’s parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, addressing “Dear Justin”.
Zelensky called on EU leaders to act quickly on Ukraine’s membership when the war broke out and called for more help to save his young democracy. Biden insisted that US troops would not land in Ukraine and called Zelensky’s relentless requests for fighter jets too risky, potentially leading to a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. Biden recently said, “A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia will be World War III.”
