By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivered an emotional plea for help from the world and America in a live video address to Congress on Wednesday as the Russian army proceeded to pound much of the country to rubble, destroying a place Russian dictator president Vladimir Putin says he wants to control and bring back into the “motherland.”

Zelensky called up images of Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and even cited the words of the Martin Luther King in appealing to Congress, the American people and President Biden for more military and humanitarian aid, a no-fly zone and even more economic sanctions.

“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people,” Zelensky said in the 16-minute address, translated by an interpreter. “Russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at Ukraine, countless bombs. They use drones to kill us with precision.”

“You know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft … to protect our people, our freedom, our land,” Zelensky said. “You know that they exist and you have them, but they are on earth, not in the Ukrainian sky.”

In the end he played a dramatic video of the destruction going across Ukraine, then addressed President Biden directly in English.

“You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation — I wish you to be the leader of the world,” he said. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”

He asked for surface-to-air missiles and aircraft, further cracking down on Russian trade, and imposing sanctions on a much wider range of Russian political leaders, including all members of the lower house of the national legislature, the Duma.

“Peace is more important than income,” he said.

Biden Response

Citing the risk of sparking “World War III,” Biden has ruled out a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone and opposes a plan to transfer Soviet-era fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine.

Speaking Wednesday afternoon, Biden called Zelensky’s address “convincing” and “significant” but gave no indication that he has changed his views.

Biden declared, however, that the U.S. and allies would “stay the course” and “do everything we can to push for an end this tragic, unnecessary war.”

After the speech, he signed an order providing for the transfer of an additional $800 million in materiel from U.S. arsenals to Ukraine, bringing the total American military commitment to roughly $2 billion over the past year.

“This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine,” Biden said, adding that the Russian invasion was producing “appalling devastation and horror” in that country.

Biden spoke for about eight minutes and did not specifically mention the no-fly zone.

“Together with our allies and partners, we’re going to stay the course will do everything we can to push for an end this tragic, unnecessary war,” Biden said.

Biden began with a prediction that Russia has already lost the war with the entire world mobilizing against him, and praised the defiance of the Ukrainian people.

“It will never be a victory for Putin no matter what advances he makes on the battlefield,” he said.

The new order, Biden said, would allow for the transfer of 800 antiaircraft missiles, 9,000 antitank rounds, 7,000 small arms and roughly 20 million rounds of ammunition.

“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,” he said, naming Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We always have. We always will.”

Both Biden and Zelensky denounced Russia’s widespread attacks on civilian and humanitarian targets.

A United Nations office tracking civilian casualties has confirmed 726 killed and 1,174 injured, though it warns the actual figures are likely “considerably higher.” Ukraine’s defense ministry said Saturday that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed since the initial attack, while Russia’s government has not reported combat deaths since March 2, when it put the figure at 498 — what western intelligence officials believe was a severe undercount.

More than 3 million refugees have left Ukraine, an exodus that is on pace to become Europe’s worst humanitarian crisis in this century.

Congressional Response

Some attendees were moved to tears by the video, according to those leaving the auditorium after the speech, and many said the images made a powerful case for further American intervention.

“Not a muscle moved, not a voice — just absolutely riveting,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who was among a delegation of senators that traveled to Ukraine’s border with Poland over the weekend. Zelensky, he said, made the case that “we have an opportunity and obligation to take much more forceful action.”

“I do think we need to provide them with much more robust air defense, drones, planes, antiaircraft batteries — all of the technology that we have available that is defensive,” he added. “Ukrainians can win a fair fight on the ground. Right now, they have encountered a reign of terror in the skies.”

Republicans who have spent weeks calling on the Biden administration to do more amplified those calls Wednesday, saying the United States should act posthaste to get jets and other weapons systems to Ukraine, and many Democrats joined them.

Still, the initial reaction to Zelensky’s speech showed that there is hardly any limit to the appetite that many lawmakers have for further assistance to Ukraine, short of direct American intervention in the conflict. That is especially true of Republicans who have sought to cast Biden as feckless for insisting on acting in concert with European allies, and several said after Zelensky’s speech that Biden simply needed to do more.

“We don’t need them just to lose more slowly, we need them to win, and to win, they need to kill Russians, and to kill Russians, they need more weapons,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). “The burden of proof should be on us about why we wouldn’t supply everything they need.”

But emotional appeals from Zelensky did little to persuade even the most hawkish members of Congress on a no-fly zone, which lawmakers and administration officials have broadly warned could spiral into a broader conflict directly involving U.S. forces.

“I understand the need from the Ukrainian perspective,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). “But when the president and his team indicate that that would be an escalation that would involve the potential conflict between NATO members and Russia, he’s right.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated Wednesday that the alliance would play no role in establishing a no-fly zone. “We have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict, this war, doesn’t escalate beyond Ukraine,” he said after a meeting of NATO member defense ministers.

While there is widespread support for Ukraine in the United States, there is also great reluctance to become involved in another war. Three-quarters of Americans said the U.S. should do whatever it can to help Ukraine without risking a direct war between the U.S. and Russia, while 17 percent said the U.S. should do whatever it takes, even if it means war, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

According to a Economist/YouGov poll from this week, 38 percent of U.S. citizens said enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine was a “good idea” and 27 percent said it was a “bad idea.” But when asked about whether the U.S. military should shoot down Russian military planes flying over Ukraine or not — the definition of a no-fly zone — opposition rose to 49 percent and support was 20 percent.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a key Ukraine ally who also traveled to Poland in recent days, said that the additional military assistance Biden announced Wednesday is welcome but that he wanted to hear more detail on how the military aid would be delivered in time to make a difference on the ground in Ukraine.

“It’s not just about money,” he said. “It’s about doing things more quickly and being more creative.”

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