Biden announces $800 million in military aid for Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s plea for help
“This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine."
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would send $800 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine, shortly after the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, delivered an impassioned virtual address to Congress in which he appealed for more help in staving off Russia’s invasion.
“This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine,” Biden said, adding that the Russian invasion was producing “appalling devastation and horror” in that country.
“The American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine,” he said.
But Biden stopped well short of responding to the more direct military intervention that Zelenskyy has repeatedly requested, including for the United States and NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
In his dramatic address to American lawmakers hours earlier, Zelenskyy showed a gruesome video of the Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and pleaded for additional military aid, a no-fly zone and more severe sanctions on Russia. He described the threat his nation faced as an attack on the democratic values championed by the United States.
Zelenskyy addressed lawmakers on a large screen in a movie theater-style auditorium under the Capitol, invoking the memories of Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — when the United States came under attack — as he pleaded for support saying, “We need you right now.”
In remarks translated from Ukrainian, he said starkly: “I call on you to do more.”
Wearing a green T-shirt and seated next to a Ukrainian flag, Zelenskyy tailored his remarks to Americans and those who represent them, borrowing a phrase from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — “I have a dream” — as he asked for a no-fly zone over his country. “I have a need” to protect the sky, he said.
Speaking from the White House, Biden condemned what he called a “God-awful” invasion that is an “outrage to the world.” And he hailed Zelenskyy’s courage.
“He was convincing,” Biden said of the Ukrainian president’s address to Congress, calling it a “significant speech.”
“He speaks for a people who have shown remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression,” Biden said.
Biden has pledged to enhance Ukraine’s ability to fight and to defend its capital, Kyiv, and other besieged cities while also trying to avoid steps that could lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia and a broader war in Europe.
White House officials said the $800 million that Biden announced was part of the spending package he signed on Tuesday that included $14 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, whose background is in the entertainment industry, wrapped up his 18-minute speech with a graphic and wrenching video showing images of his war-torn country, including bombs exploding in cities around Ukraine, and civilians bloodied and killed by Russian attacks.
He concluded by speaking in English, calling upon the United States to take up what he portrayed as an obligation, given its place on the world stage to intervene in the conflict.
“To be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” he said, as members of Congress grew visibly emotional.
The United States last week announced $200 million in security aid for Ukraine. In February, it approved a $350 million arms package.
The weapons provided to Ukraine from the United States have included at least 600 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and about 2,600 Javelin antitank missiles, according to a senior White House official. But Ukraine says it needs sophisticated antimissile systems.
The United States has also provided five Mi-17 helicopters, three patrol boats and 70 other vehicles of various kinds, plus small arms, tactical gear and military medical equipment, the White House official said. The weapons come from existing U.S. military stockpiles in Europe, the official said, and are flown into neighboring countries like Poland and Romania, where they are shipped overland into western Ukraine.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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