Ukraine’s Zelenskiy pleads with Congress for help fighting Russia: ‘I call on you to do more’ – live

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is almost 45 years old but there is no point in living “if we cannot stop the death”.

He switches into English to say: “As the leader of the nation I am addressing President Biden, you are the leader of the nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Thank you.”

Then in Ukrainian he finishes by saying “Glory to Ukraine.”

He is waving on screen as he receives a universal standing ovation from the hundreds of representatives and senators gathered on Capitol Hill.

Zelenskiy is asking the west to unite as a union of “responsible countries that have the consciousness to stop conflict immediately”.

He invokes the speed with which vaccines against the coronavirus were developed and says if that kind of collective will were to come together to help Ukraine further combat Russia “we will be able to save thousands of lives in our country”.

Now, with a soaring violin score, Zelenzkiy shows a heartbreaking video of the bombardment of Ukrainians, including sobbing children trying to evacuate.

It ends with the plea on screen saying “Close the sky”.

The Ukrainian president just asked, rhetorically, if it is “too much to ask” Nato allies, including the US, to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

He says if it’s too much, Ukraine also needs vastly more anti-aircraft systems from the west.

He invokes civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I have a dream” speech delivered in Washington DC, in a plea against systemic racism, in 1963.

“I have a need,” he said.

“Right now the destiny of our country is being decided, the destiny of our people,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy tells US Congress.

The Ukrainian president says the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is about more than Ukraine, it’s about democracy, freedom, and choosing your own path. It’s also about “Europe and the world.”

He tells the US to hear him “when we need you right now”.

He’s telling America to remember the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan in 1941 that brought the US fully into the second world war, remember the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US by al-Qaida terrorists.

What is happening to Ukraine is something “Europe has not seen in 80 years,” he said.

“I call on you to do more,” Zelenskiy said.

He noted that Russia has “turned the skies into a source of death” for troops and the public in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has now been experiencing the equivalent destruction and horror of a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor “every day for three weeks”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appeared on a large screen in the House of Representatives, ready to address a packed chamber full of members of Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now introducing Zelenskiy and praised his “courageous” defenses against invading Russian forces.

She also spoke a little Ukrainian.

Now Zelenskiy is beginning, saying he is proud to address Congress from Kyiv under fire from Russia, while the country is “not giving up”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address the US Congress, remotely from his bunker in Kyiv, via video link, in what will be one of the most extraordinary scenes on Capitol Hill in recent memory,

The wartime leader has made no secret of the fact that he is increasingly frustrated by the west’s refusal to use allied air forces to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to try to stop the Russian aerial bombardment on Ukrainian cities.

An idea to send Soviet-style fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine, via US military facilities in Germany, also collapsed earlier this month, as Joe Biden was wary it could be interpreted by Russia as drawing Nato into war.

Zelenskiy is expected to thank the US for strong assistance so far and economic sanctions on Russia, but also to shame and emotionally appeal to lawmakers to get more involved as Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be out to crush Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president recently gave a remote talk to a group of members of Congress behind closed doors. But his public address today is of the highest profile. He recently gave a powerful address to the British House of Commons, invoking Shakespearean and Churchillian themes, and he addressed Canada’s parliament yesterday.

Good morning, US politics live blog readers, thanks for tuning in. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address Congress, remotely from Kyiv, today in a vital address as his country and city are under fire from the Russian invasion. We will have live coverage here. If you would like to follow more of our global, round-the-clock coverage of the war in Ukraine, that live blog can be reached here.

Here’s what’s on today’s US agenda:

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy will make an address to the US Congress at 9am Washington time. We’ll have a live feed, as well as bringing you all the main points in our posts. He is expected to call on the US to do more to help the Ukraine resist being crushed by its more powerful neighbor, Russia.
• Joe Biden is due to make remarks in response to the Ukrainian president’s speech at 11.45am Washington timeand pledge more in military aid, likely a fresh $800m to come out of the massive $13.6bn aid bill passed by Congress last week and now signed by Biden.
• The US president is expected to announce extra security assistance for Ukraine by way of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons but the US has so far held fast in refusing to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine or to channel fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian air forces, for fear of drawing Nato into war with Russia and unleashing “world war three”.
• US defense secretary Lloyd Austin is in Brussels meeting with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg as the Atlantic military alliance steps up forces up to – but not over – allies’ borders with Russia.