Zelensky’s address to Congress was direct and disturbing. Few will be able to forget it

At 9am Eastern Time (1pm GMT) in a virtual address to Congress in Washington DC, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of Pearl Harbor and September 11th. “Americans, in your great history you have pages that would help you understand,” he said of the continuing attacks on Ukrainian cities. “We need you right now. Remember Pearl Harbor… Remember September 11th, a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities — independent territories — into battlefields. When you were attacked from the air. Our country experiences the same every day… Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people.”

It was a similar address to the one he’d made the day before to the Canadian parliament and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Can you imagine the CN Tower in Toronto if it was hit by Russian bombs? I don’t wish that on anyone, but this is the reality we face,” he said then, before directly addressing Trudeau by his first name: “Justin, can you imagine you or your children hearing those explosions? Can you imagine that?”

Today, it was Nancy Pelosi who introduced Zelensky to Congress, welcoming the Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Markarova — who was also invited to Biden’s State of the Union address two weeks ago — by name. Somewhat haltingly, she ended her welcome to Zelensky with, “Slava Ukraini, glory to heroes,” the official salute of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Zelensky’s address — made from a nondescript room next to a Ukrainian flag — was direct and to-the-point. For the first half, he spoke in Ukrainian and his speech was overlaid by a translator. He spoke of “the worst war since World War Two” unfolding in his country, and the dreams of his citizens being blown apart “just like the same dreams you, Americans, have — just like anyone in the United States.” His turns of phrase were very American: Russia “attacked not just us; they went on a brutal offensive against our values,” he said; Ukrainians just want to be able to “preserve our democracy”. He invoked Mount Rushmore, “the faces of those who laid the foundations of the United States of America” and the country they envisioned, adding: “We in Ukraine want the same.” He also deliberately echoed Martin Luther King Jr’s famous civil rights speech: “I have a dream. Those words are known to each of you, and today I say to you: I have a need.”

Then came the specific requests. “Is it too much to ask for to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine?” Because the past three weeks have made it clear such action is “too much to ask,” he immediately followed up with: “If this is too much to ask, we have alternatives. You know what kind of defense systems we need… the ability to use aircraft, powerful, strong aviation. Aircraft that can help Ukraine, that can help Europe. You know that they exist and you have them, but they are on the earth rather than in our skies.” This presumably refers to the American aircraft Poland recently offered to transfer to an air base for Ukrainians to make use of, which the US blanched at. It was considered that American planes flying in Ukrainian skies in direct conflict with Russian aircraft would be too provocative.

Zelensky also asked for anything that “allows us to pressure Russia economically.” “I call on you to do more,” he implored. “New packages of sanctions are needed. Restrictions are needed for everyone on whom this unjust regime is based… All America’s companies must leave the Russian markets immediately because it is flooded with our blood… I’m asking to make sure the Russians do not receive a single penny to use to destroy people in Ukraine. Peace is more important than income.”

Zelensky also suggested a new, NATO-style alliance called U24, suggesting that it could comprise “responsible countries” who would support each other financially, militaristically and in terms of humanitarian aid. He spoke of how such a group might have helped, for instance, develop a faster Covid vaccine. News had broken earlier in the day that Zelensky suggested in talks with Putin that Ukraine would never join NATO. This seemed to suggest he was effectively creating a loophole for himself and suggesting a NATO clone elsewhere.

After speaking for 15 minutes, Zelensky asked Congress to “please watch this video” and aired a slickly made and highly disturbing video of the situation inside Ukraine. It opened with beautiful vistas of Ukrainian cities pre-war, with children cavorting in playgrounds and young couples walking along architecturally impressive streets and through sunny parks. The imagery then changed, with the same apartment blocks in the background of shiny PR shots turning to neighborhoods being bombed by missiles. Abandoned strollers, empty babies’ shoes, dead bodies on the sides of roads and in ditches, a fatally wounded pregnant woman being carried out of a bombed maternity hospital on a stretcher, burned and injured children, and crying parents flashed onscreen. It was extremely difficult to watch, and many filing out of the room after the address were visibly moved by what they had seen. The video ended with text that implored viewers: “Close the sky over Ukraine”.

For the final section of his speech, post-video, Zelensky spoke in English without the aid of a translator. “I am addressing President Biden,” he said, imploring Biden to take further action. “You are the leader of the nation. I wish you could be the leader of the world.”

At the end of the speech, a number of members of Congress addressed waiting cameras and talked about how Ukraine had become a “bipartisan issue, not a Republican or a Democrat issue”. Though most spoke of working together, one Republican mentioned snidely that we couldn’t “wait any longer” for Biden to act while he worried about upsetting Vladimir Putin, which isn’t altogether fair: The supersized bipartisan package of $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine was given final approval by the Senate five days ago, and US-led sanctions have left Russia on the brink of economic collapse.

The question now is what more the US can do short of full-scale war. One Senator spoke of Putin being “Hitler in our lifetimes”; another said simply that “They need to kill more Russians.” More killing clearly isn’t a lasting solution to the Ukrainian situation, though. As Zelensky returns to the negotiating table with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov this week, one can only hope that the ideas being floated — a neutral Kyiv, further humanitarian corridors, “security guarantees” — become concrete solutions quickly. Zelensky’s description of these latest negotiations sounding “more realistic” gives hope. One thing is for certain: Few who were in the room today will forget the video the Ukrainian president aired and the plea that went ignored.