Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky summoned the memory of Pearl Harbour and the September 11^th 2001 terror attacks in appealing on Wednesday to the US Congress to do more to help Ukraine fight against Russia, but he acknowledged the no-fly zone he has sought to “close the sky” to air-strikes  on his country may not happen. 

 

Live-streamed into the Capitol complex, Zelensky said that the US must sanction Russian lawmakers and block imports.  But rather an enforced no-fly zone that the White House has resisted he insisted sought other military aid to stop Russian assault.

 

For the first time in public address to world leaders, he showed a packed auditorium of lawmakers a graphic video of the destruction and devastation his country had suffered in the war along with heart-breaking scenes of civilian causalities. 

 

“We need you right now,” Zelensky said, “I call on you to do more.”   Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation before and after his short remarks which Zelensky began in Ukrainian through an interpreter then switched to English in a heartfelt appeal to end the bloodshed.

 

“I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths,” he said.  Nearing the three week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelensky has used the global stage to implore allied leaders to help stop the Russian invasion of his country.

 

President Biden’s administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or military jets from neighbouring Poland as the US seeks to avoid widened confrontation with nuclear armed Russia.

 

Biden was to deliver his own address following Zelensky’s speech, and was expected to announce an additional 800 million dollars in security assistance to Ukraine according to a White House official that would bring the total amount to 1 billion dollars.

 

The White House is considering giving Ukraine access to US-made Switchblade drones that fly and strike Russian targets. 

 

Zelensky has emerged as a heroic figure at the centre of which many view as the largest security threat since World War II. Almost 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine the fastest exodus in modern times,