Ukraine is “alive and Kicking” and will never surrender, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a defiant speech to US lawmakers on his first foreign trip since the Russian invasion.
US military aid to Ukraine is not charity, but an investment in future security, Zelenskyy said.
His nomination comes amid signs that US support is likely to come under closer scrutiny from Republican lawmakers in Congress.
But President Joe Biden has promised to support Ukraine “as long as necessary”.
Mr Biden pledged a new $2bn (£1.7bn) aid package and pledged another $45bn. At a joint press conference, Biden told reporters he was “not at all concerned” with keeping the international coalition together.
Amid concerns that some allies may feel the strain from the costs of the conflict and the disruption of global food and energy supplies, the US president said he felt “very good” about the solidarity of support for Ukraine.
As Ukraine’s main ally, the US has already pledged $50bn (£41bn) in humanitarian, financial, and security assistance, far more than any other country.
Zelensky – wearing his signature green combat sweatshirt and boots – expressed his hope that Congress would give another $45 billion to Ukraine – currently under consideration in the US Senate – to “help us defend our values and our independence”.
The Republicans – who will assume the presidency of the House of Representatives in January – have warned that they will not sign a “blank check” for Ukraine. Indeed, Republican support for continued aid is crumbling. In a poll conducted in November, just over half of Republican voters supported aid to Ukraine, up from 80% in March.
But Mr. Zelensky, who traveled on a US Air Force plane from the Polish city of Rzeszow, said “regardless of changes in Congress,” he believed there would be bipartisan support for his country.
And he made his call for a joint session of Congress in emotional terms — a speech that was interrupted 18 times to standing ovations by nearly every member of Congress, with the exception of a few Republican lawmakers who didn’t applaud.
Speaking in English, he told them his country was still “against all odds” and predicted “a turning point” in the conflict next year.
Also read: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington For Talks with Biden
To illustrate the brutality of war, Zelensky referred to American troops fighting the Nazis during World War II.
“The tactics of the Russians are primitive. They burn and destroy everything they see. They sent convicts to the front, to the war. They threw everything against us, much like the other tyranny which, during the Battle of the Bulge, threw everything against the free world. “Just like the brave American soldiers who held their lines and repelled Hitler’s forces on Christmas 1944, the brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin this Christmas,” he said. “Ukraine is holding its lines and will never surrender.”
Concluding his speech, Zelensky presented Congress with a battle flag signed by defenders of Bakhmut, a frontline town in eastern Ukraine he visited on the eve of his trip to Washington.
The security assistance package announced by Washington on Wednesday includes a new Patriot missile system designed to help Ukraine protect its cities from missiles and drones fired by Russia at critical facilities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile system was seen as a provocation.
Putin said earlier on Wednesday that he believed his country was not responsible for the war in Ukraine, adding that the two countries “share a tragedy”. His spokesman said no calls for peace were heard during Zelensky’s visit to Washington.
“This indicates that the United States is continuing its line of de facto and indirect fighting with Russia down to the last Ukrainian,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the US military estimates that at least 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded, along with an estimated 40,000 civilian deaths.
The United Nations has registered 7.8 million people as refugees from Ukraine across Europe, including Russia. However, the figure does not include those who have been forced to flee their homes but remain in Ukraine
