Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the US Congress that aid to Ukraine was an investment in democracy and “not charity” as he invoked American battles against the Nazis to press for more assistance for his country’s war effort.
“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Mr Zelenskiy told a joint session of the US Senate and House of Representatives, speaking in English.
The world is too interconnected to allow any country to stand aside and feel safe, Mr Zelenskiy said as he appealed for bipartisan support.
Mr Zelenskiy’s comments on Wednesday come as Republicans – some of whom have voiced increasing scepticism about sending so much aid to Ukraine – are set to take control of the US House of Representatives from Democrats on January 3rd.
Some hardline Republicans have even urged an end to aid and an audit to trace how allocated money has been spent.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president, wearing his trademark olive green trousers and sweater on his first foreign wartime visit, met President Joe Biden, who called for support to keep flowing in 2023.
The United States also announced another $1.85 billion (€1.74 billion) in military aid for Ukraine, including a Patriot air defence system to help it ward off barrages of Russian missiles.
Mr Zelenskiy said the Patriot system was an important step in creating an air shield.
“This is the only way that we can deprive the terrorist state of its main instrument of terror – the possibility to hit our cities, our energy,” Mr Zelenskiy told a White House news conference, standing next to Mr Biden.
“We would like to get more Patriots ... we are in war,” Mr Zelenskiy told reporters at the White House.
Ukraine has come under repeated Russian strikes targeting its energy infrastructure in recent weeks, leaving millions without power or running water in the dead of a freezing winter.
Tass news agency cited Russia’s US ambassador as saying that Mr Zelenskiy’s visit confirmed that US statements about not wanting a conflict with Russia were empty words.
America’s provocative actions in Ukraine were leading to an escalation the consequences of which were impossible to imagine, Tass cited Anatoly Antonov as saying.
Russia said last week, Patriot systems, if delivered to Ukraine, would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes.
House members and senators from both parties leapt to their feet to cheer parts of Mr Zelenskiy’s speech as he likened his country’s battle to the second World War and even the American Revolution.
Referencing former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served between 1933 and 1945, and efforts to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation, Mr Zelenskiy appealed to Americans as they gathered with family for Christmas.
“Just like the brave American soldiers, which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin’s forces this Christmas,” he said.
Mr Zelenskiy said a “just peace” with Russia meant no compromises on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Russian forces attacked targets in the Zaporizhzhia region and pushed to advance near the battered eastern front-line towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, the focal point of fighting in the Donetsk region, Ukraine's military said on Wednesday evening.
Vladimir Putin has promised to give his military whatever it needs to prosecute the war nearing the end of its 10th month and backed a plan to boost the size of the armed forces by more than 30 per cent. – Reuters