Zelensky invokes US fighting in Battle of the Bulge as he insists Ukraine is ‘alive and kicking’ in address to Congress
Ukrainian leader focuses on strong showing of bipartisan support in joint session
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukraine’s president delivered a stirring address conveying gratitude to Americans and asking for their support ahead of what he depicted as an especially brutal winter, during his address to Congress on Wednesday evening.
Volodymyr Zelensky‘s roughly 30 minute remarks were punctuated by several breaks for standing ovations and supportive interjections from the lawmakers assembled for his remarks.
At one particularly moving point of his address, the Ukrainian president likened the struggle of his countrymen to the vicious fighting that American troops experienced in western Europe near the end of the Second World War, as German forces mounted a last-ditch offensive that came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.
“They burn down and destroy everything they see,” he said of advancing Russian forces. “They threw everything against us, similar to the other tyranny which is in the Battle of the Bulge.”
“Through everything, 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, this Christmas,” Mr Zelensky continued.
He also said that Ukraine’s fight in defence of the Russian invasion was a battle for democracy that all Western countries were benefiting from. “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”
Mr Zelensky’s arrival in the US marked the first moment since Russia invaded his country 300 days ago that the ground under his feet was foreign soil. His last trip outside Ukraine’s borders occurred on 19 February, just five days after Russian troops crossed over the border.
Despite everything, including the “doom and gloom” of experts who worried that Ukraine’s military could not possibly hope to fight off the numerically superior Russian force, his country’s forces are still “alive and kicking”, the president contended.
He concluded his speech with his trademark “slava Ukraini!” and went on to receive an American flag that had flown over the US Capitol earlier in the day honouring his arrival.
In return, he gifted US lawmakers a Ukrainian flag he said was direct from the front lines — signed by Ukrainian service members currently battling Russian invaders.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris unfurled the flag over the Speaker’s podium, eliciting a final standing ovation from the lawmakers attending the speech.
Notably, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado was spotted by reporters remaining seated for much of Mr Zelensky’s speech, and did not participate in many if not all of the ovations her fellows gave their international guest.
She and Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida were seen on their phones throughout the event, drawing criticism on Twitter. The two also were spotted by The Independent blowing straight through a security checkpoint and refusing to stop for a Capitol Police officer who attempted to direct them to a nearby metal detector — such violations of congressional security policies in the past have cost other lawmakers thousands of dollars in fines.
At the end, members of the Ukrainian delegation shouted “God bless America!” from the visitors gallery, evoking smiles and waves from their American counterparts in the chamber below.
While the meeting in Washington is Mr Zelensky’s first foreign trip since the invasion began, it will not be his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since the war expanded. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv last month, and then prime minster Boris Johnson also made the trip to Ukraine’s capital in August, to mark the country’s independence day with a show of support for its leader.
Earlier in the day, he had appeared with President Joe Biden for a joint press conference and meeting at the White House. Together, the two discused a new $1.85bn aid package that the US president announced today, and told reporters what a road to peace with Russia would look like.
Mr Zelensky described his own definition of such a resolution at the news conference: “[N]o compromise as to the sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity of my country”, as well as reparations for the damages inflicted by Russian forces during their invasion. Presumably, this would mean the end of Russian occupation in breakaway regions annexed by Moscow after the conflict began in 2014.
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