President Biden is expected to address the nation late Wednesday morning to share what the U.S. is doing to assist Ukraine, hours after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with Congress and the president to approve a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine and to provide more air-defense capabilities.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Zelenskyy’s address “incredibly effective, and said, “I think the message to President Biden is he needs to step up his game.”
Lawmakers including McConnell want the president to do more, particularly when it comes to providing air defense systems and getting fighter jets to the Ukrainians. The Biden administration has rejected the idea of transferring aircraft because it is concerned Russia might view that as an escalatory move.
Zelenskyy addressed hundreds of members of the House and Senate Wednesday morning, thanking the United States for its help against Russia’s unprovoked invasion but urging Congress and President Biden to do more to save the lives of the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian president renewed his plea for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, or at least more air defense systems and technology like the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile systems. He had a direct message for President Biden: “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Some lawmakers, like Texas Senator Ted Cruz, rejected a no-fly zone but is still calling for more support for Ukraine.
“A no-fly zone increases dramatically the risks of American pilots in direct combat with Russian pilots, and that’s an unacceptable risk of escalation,” Cruz told reporters, adding that there is still “an enormous amount we can do, short of putting American servicemen and women in harm’s way.” He advocates giving Ukraine “lethal weaponry and in particular, fighter jets,” and he criticized President Biden because he “personally vetoed providing the fighter jets that Ukraine is desperately asking for.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Greg Meeks, a Democrat, said Congress will stand with Zelenskyy, as Americans.
“After seeing and listening to President Zelenskyy, if we don’t come together as Americans, and with our NATO allies, then, that helps Putin. This is about the time for unity,” Meeks said.
