Ukraine's leader pleads for US to 'close the sky'

WASHINGTON • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged American lawmakers to do more to protect his country from Russia's invasion in an address to the US Congress yesterday, with President Joe Biden set to announce an additional US$800 million (S$1.1 billion) in aid for the war-torn country later in the day.

Mr Zelensky continued his push for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, and asked for more planes and defence systems to respond to a Russian invasion launched last month that has caused large-scale destruction in his country and unleashed a wave of refugees.

"Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people," Mr Zelensky said in his virtual address before showing video footage containing graphic images of death and destruction in Ukraine that ended with "close the sky over Ukraine".

He also called for more economic sanctions against Russia.

He closed his address with a direct plea in English to Mr Biden: "I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace."

Mr Zelensky's appearance - greeted by a standing ovation in the US Capitol complex - came less than a week after lawmakers green-lit nearly US$14 billion in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine.

Mr Biden was expected to announce US$1 billion in security help to Ukraine later in the day - US$200 million of it already allocated at the weekend and US$800 million in new funds from the aid package signed into law on Tuesday.

United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) officials have until now flatly ruled out enforcing a Ukraine no-fly zone, concerned about being dragged into a direct conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.

However, the renewed call for more help to beef up Ukrainian air defences beyond Stinger and Javelin missiles is likely to maintain the pressure on Mr Biden to go further.

NBC reported on Tuesday that the Biden administration was considering providing Ukraine with US-made armed drones.

Ukraine has already used Turkish-made drones to great effect against Russian armoured vehicles.

In a related development, the United Nations' top court yesterday ordered Russia to suspend its invasion of Ukraine, saying it was "profoundly concerned" by Moscow's use of force.

"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on Feb 24 on the territory of Ukraine" pending the final decision in the case, Judge Joan Donoghue told the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

But in Russia, President Vladimir Putin gave an impassioned defence of his military actions in Ukraine, saying his tactics were completely justified, and that he had no other choice but to send troops into the country.

In a televised speech to government ministers, Mr Putin also said that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine and would not submit to what he called a Western attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia.

Mr Putin also said Russia was ready to discuss neutral status for Ukraine, three weeks into a war that has killed thousands of people and forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes.

Mr Zelensky's address came a day after the US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning President Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.

The resolution, introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by senators of both parties, encouraged the International Criminal Court in The Hague and other nations to target the Russian military in any investigation of war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the White House said Mr Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 Nato summit on the invasion, which Moscow termed a "special military operation".

Ahead of the summit, Nato defence ministers were also set to tell military commanders at a meeting yesterday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia, including more troops and missile defences in Eastern Europe.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE