Ukraine war: Zelensky makes urgent plea to US Congress for more supplies to fight Russia
- Afterwards, US President Joe Biden announces US$800 million more in military aid, including hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft weapons and AT-4 anti-tank weapons
- Biden later said of Russian leader Vladimir Putin: ‘I think he is a war criminal’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the US Congress on Wednesday to provide more weapons and humanitarian relief as Russia’s attack on his beleaguered country neared its fourth week.
The video address, part of a pressure campaign on Western countries to step up further, comes as Ukrainian cities are increasingly ringed by Russian troops, its civilians under fire and a refugee crisis spreads across Europe.
“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, for training, for finances, for leadership in the free world, which helps us to pressure the aggressor economically,” Zelensky told a packed screening room beneath the Capitol.
But urging a new framework against global aggressors, he said, “we need to move on and do more”.
Zelensky’s 20-minute speech to Congress – including a short video depicting graphic images of violence in Ukraine – drew a standing ovation.
The 44-year old Ukrainian president, dressed in a military T-shirt, called for Nato and the United States to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, pile on more economic sanctions against Russia and grant Kyiv access to fighter aircraft.