Ukraine's president to push for more help in address to U.S. Congress

Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine's president was preparing to make a direct appeal for more help in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the U.S. Congress, even as Russia continued its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Wednesday.

In the war's third week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested there was still some reason to be optimistic that negotiations with the Russian government might yet yield an agreement.

Previewing his speech to the U.S. Congress, Zelenskyy thanked President Joe Biden and "all the friends of Ukraine" for $13.6 billion in new support. He appealed for more weapons and more sanctions to punish Russia and repeated his call to "close the skies over Ukraine to Russian missiles and planes."