Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives a U.S. flag from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022.Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives a U.S. flag from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022.
Zelenskyy told the US Congress on Wednesday that aid to his country was an investment in democracy as he invoked battles against the Nazis in World War Two to press for more assistance in the war against Russia. Russia says it launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression that has killed.Congress is on the verge of approving an additional $44.9 billion in emergency military and economic assistance, on top of some $50 billion already sent to Ukraine this year as Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War Two drags on.
Zelenskyy’s aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the United States had “finally pinpointed the baseline” in the conflict. Zelenskyy congratulated electrical workers for working round the clock, trying to keep the lights on as they marked Power Engineers’ Day on Thursday, a day after the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.
America’s provocative actions were leading to an escalation, the consequences of which were impossible to imagine, TASS cited Anatoly Antonov as saying.