Zelenskiy Pleads for Aid, Tells U.S. Congress ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’

(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a dramatic plea to the U.S. for more help fending off Russia’s invasion, targeting members of Congress who are ready to provide money and equipment but still unwilling to countenance his biggest ask: A no-fly zone over his country.

(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a dramatic plea to the U.S. for more help fending off Russia’s invasion, targeting members of Congress who are ready to provide money and equipment but still unwilling to countenance his biggest ask: A no-fly zone over his country.

“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people,” Zelenskiy said by video to an auditorium full of lawmakers, who gave him an extended standing ovation when he appeared on the screen. “And we are asking for a reply, for an answer to this terror.”

Zelenskiy spoke through an interpreter for part of his remarks but switched to English at the end. He invoked American touchstones in his appeal, including the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terrorist strike on Washington and New York.

“Remember Pearl Harbor, terrible morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you,” he said in his roughly 20-minute remarks. “Just remember it. Remember Sept. the 11th.”

Zelenskiy’s unusual address from a war zone was delivered as the Russian assault on Ukraine grinds into its third brutal week and his government and the nation face an existential threat.

Ukraine’s plight and Zelenskiy’s defiance have rallied most members of the House and Senate to promises of assistance and actions against Russia. Congress last week passed $13.6 billion in emergency spending for the U.S. response for the war -- an amount that had ballooned from an initial estimate of about $6.5 billion -- and lawmakers said they expected it would be just a down payment on what Ukraine ultimately will need.