Speech by Volodymyr Zelensky | “Remember 9/11”

Zelensky calls on the United States to “do more”

Richard Hetu
special cooperation

(New York) In a moving speech delivered from the bombarded capital of his country, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Wednesday of two of the most traumatic attacks in the history of the United States in order to convince Joe Biden and the American Congress to “make more” to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

“Remember Pearl Harbor, the terrible morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black because of the planes attacking you”, first said the Ukrainian president, dressed in a khaki t-shirt, in his addressing by videoconference the members of Congress who had just given him a standing ovation. “Remember September 11, the terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to transform your cities […] in battlefields. »

“Our country is going through the same thing every day, right now, at this moment,” he added in a roughly 10-minute speech in which he again called for “closing the skies of the Ukrainian”.

À la fin de son discours, Volodymyr Zelensky a interpellé directement Joe Biden, passant de l’ukrainien à l’anglais, après avoir présenté une vidéo montrant des images crues de son pays en guerre.

« Vous êtes le leader d’une nation, d’une grande nation. Je vous souhaite d’être le leader du monde. Être le leader du monde signifie être le leader de la paix », a dit d’une voix émue celui qui venait à peine d’affirmer ne pas voir « le sens de la vie si elle ne peut arrêter la mort ».

Joe Biden a répondu à l’appel de son homologue en débloquant une nouvelle aide militaire de 800 millions de dollars, portant à 1 milliard de dollars l’assistance sécuritaire supplémentaire promise par les États-Unis à l’Ukraine, une somme « sans précédent », selon lui.

« J’ai un rêve »

« Ce qui est en jeu ici, ce sont les principes que défendent les États-Unis, les Nations unies et les [pays] around the world,” said the American president during an intervention at the White House, more than two hours after his Ukrainian counterpart’s speech.

Later that day, Joe Biden called the Kremlin strongman a “war criminal” for the first time in response to an impromptu question from a reporter. Until then, he had avoided calling the atrocities observed on the ground in Ukraine “war crimes”, citing ongoing international and American investigations.

But, as expected, Joe Biden ignored two of Volodymyr Zelensky’s main demands, namely the imposition of a no-fly zone and the transfer of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president had mentioned one of these demands in his speech, recalling the words of Martin Luther King.

“I have a dream,” he said, quoting the famous speech of the icon of the civil rights movement before mentioning his “need to protect our sky”.

“If it’s too much to ask, you know what defense systems we need,” he added, referring in particular to the MiG-29 fighter jets offered by Poland.

He had also called for the imposition of new sanctions against Russia and the withdrawal of American companies from that country.

Kamikaze drones

In his brief intervention at the White House, Joe Biden detailed the new military aid intended for Ukraine. This includes 800 Stinger air defense systems, 9,000 anti-tank systems, approximately 7,000 small arms, 20 million munitions and 100 Switchblade suicide drones.

According to the president, the dispatch of these drones demonstrates the commitment of the United States “to send [ses] most advanced systems to Ukraine for its defence”.

Before qualifying Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal”, President Biden had denounced the “atrocities” committed by the Russian army in Ukraine, in particular the bombardment “of apartment buildings, maternity wards and hospitals”.

“I will be honest, it will be a long and hard battle, but we will continue to help Ukraine defend themselves in the weeks to come,” he said. “Putin will pay the price. America will always be on the side of the forces of freedom. »

Congressmen, both Democrats and Republicans, immediately supported Joe Biden’s refusal to agree to Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for the imposition of a no-fly zone.

“When the president and his team indicate that this would be an escalation that would involve a potential conflict between NATO members and Russia, he is right,” said Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. “That calculation may change in my mind. But for now, I support the president’s decision not to go down that road. »

There are, however, differences on the question of the transfer of fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine.

“President Biden needs to make a decision today,” Republican Senator Rick Scott from Florida tweeted before the US president spoke. “Either give Ukraine access to the planes and anti-aircraft systems it needs, or impose a no-fly zone to close Ukrainian skies to Russian attacks. »