Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Americans to provide his forces with more weapons and impose even more anti-Russian sanctions while addressing a highly unusual joint meeting of the US Congress.
“We have artillery, yes – thank you,” Zelensky acknowledged while addressing members of Congress Wednesday evening. But the Ukrainian strongman went on to grumble: “Is it enough? Honestly, not really.”
“To make sure the Russians completely pull out, more shells and cannons are needed,” Zelensky urged.
In addition, Congress “can strengthen sanctions,” Zelensky said. “It is in your power… you can do it.”
Most members of Congress responded extremely favorably to the address, with senators and representatives rising frequently for raucous standing ovations. However, a number of GOP members, such as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Dianne Harshbarger (R-TN), and Jim Jordan (R-OH), were criticized by establishment politicians for failing to stand.
The Kiev regime’s latest effort to squeeze more funds from US taxpayers comes as Zelensky has toured Washington, DC, in a bid to shore up support as incoming House Republicans appear set to tighten the purse strings.
It was a demand that seemed slightly at odds with the logic of much of the rest of the speech. Zelensky claimed early in his address that the Kiev regime has already “defeated Russia in the battle for minds of the world” and the rest of the West had achieved a “victory” over the Russian Federation. Russia, he insisted, “will never influence us again” – so it’s not entirely clear why more weapons are needed.
“Americans gained this victory and that’s why you have united the world for freedom and international law,” Zelensky underscored, before making the improbable claim that the European Union – where skyrocketing energy prices mean half the member states are headed for recession – is “now stronger and more independent than ever.”
His repeated complaints and condemnations didn’t end with the Russian Federation, though; Zelensky also took the opportunity to insist that “Russia found an ally” in what he called “its genocidal policy – Iran.”
Claiming that “one terrorist has found the other,” Zelensky insisted the friendship between Russia and Iran poses an existential threat to Western nations. “It is just a matter of time before they strike your other allies,” he claimed.
“If we do not stop them now we must do it,” Zelensky concluded bizarrely.
As for Russian people, the Ukrainian autocrat suggested full-on regime change is their only way forward. “The Russians will stand a chance to be free only when they defeat the Kremlin in their minds.”