Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional appeal to a joint session of Congress Wednesday morning, evoking the memories of the aerial attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the Twin Towers and Pentagon in 2001 as a means of imploring the U.S. to provide more military assistance to his embattled country.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Friends. Americans. In your great history, you have pages that would allow you to understand Ukrainians,” Zelensky said by virtual address to the hundreds of lawmakers who crowded into the auditorium of the Capitol Visitors Center. “When innocent people were attacked from [the] air like no one expected it, you could not stop it. Our country experiences the same every day, right now, in this moment, every night, for three weeks now.”
The Ukrainian leader pushed for the designation of Ukrainian airspace as a no-fly zone, the imposition of more sanctions, the closure of U.S. ports to Russian goods, and for lawmakers to pressure businesses in their states that are directly or indirectly funneling money or supplies to Russia to cease operations in that country. Members of Congress, however, were torn on how to respond after the speech, weighing tricky politics—some Republicans who supported former GOP President Donald Trump’s soft stance on Vladimir Putin now are among those asking for some of the most aggressive response tactics against the Russian President—and even more perilous defense risks: designating Ukraine as a no-fly zone could prompt Russia to make retaliatory moves against the U.S, several lawmakers said.
“Requests to shut down in the skies—it’s compelling. But I think every one of us are deeply concerned about this spiraling into all-out war,” Congressman Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, told reporters after Zelensky spoke. “Putin is evil, and I…
Source : time
