WASHINGTON, Dec 22 ― Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the US Congress today that the tens of billions of dollars of aid it had approved to help it fight a Russian invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security.
In his first visit out of his country since the war began in February, Zelensky told lawmakers in the soaring House of Representatives chamber that he hoped they would continue to support Ukraine on a bipartisan basis ― a major point as Republicans are due to take the majority in the House on January 3.
“Your money is not charity,” Zelensky said, clad in the khaki fatigues that have been his public uniform throughout the 300 days of conflict. “It is an investment in the global security and democracy.”
Zelensky's arrival was greeted with multiple raucous ovations in the nearly full chamber. Three members held up a large Ukrainian flag as he walked in.
“It is a great honor for me to be at the US Congress and speak to you and all Americans. Against all doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine did not fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking,” said Zelensky.
“We defeated Russia in the battle for the minds of the world,” he said.
Following a meeting at the White House with Democratic President Joe Biden, Zelensky's speech needed to resonate with the bipartisan audience, including House Republicans, who have voiced increasing scepticism about continuing to send tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine.
Zelensky joined a long list of world leaders to address joint meetings of the Senate and House, a tradition that began in 1874 with a visit by Hawaiian King Kalakaua and included almost legendary wartime visits by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as well as kings, queens and one pope.
House members and senators from both parties leaped repeatedly to their feet to cheer lines from Zelensky's speech in English such as, “Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender,” as Zelensky likened his country's battle against Moscow's forces to great battles of World War Two and even the American Revolution.
Purse strings
Planning for Zelensky's speech began in October, according to an aide to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when she met with Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Pelosi was attending the First Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Zagreb, Croatia, at the time.
Exactly 300 days after Russian troops invaded and amid intensified rocket attacks that have left Ukrainian cities in ruins, Zelensky arrived knowing that the Senate and House control America's purse strings.
His timing was perfect, as Congress is on the verge of approving an additional US$44.9 billion in new emergency military and economic assistance, on top of some US$50 billion already sent to Ukraine this year.
Daniel Fried, former US ambassador to Poland and a fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Zelensky's trip demonstrated that he and Biden share a belief that the United States, despite its faults, is leader of the free world.
Zelensky, Fried said, “didn’t go to Berlin, Brussels, London or Paris” for his first trip abroad since the start of the war.
The 44-year-old Zelensky, a former comedian and actor, also visited Washington on a day that the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed a new ambassador to Russia.
The optics of Zelensky's welcome as a defender of democracy carried a message far deeper than military aid. It was meant to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States and its Nato allies remain steadfastly behind Ukraine, despite recent signs of impatience among some Republican lawmakers over the rising cost.
For Zelensky, whose wartime olive fatigues have become globally recognised, the House overlooked a rule that normally requires men to wear a jacket and tie inside the chamber. ― Reuters
