WASHINGTON – Ukrainian troops on the front lines of Russian aggression are awaiting a decision by US lawmakers to send additional military aid, Kyiv President Volodymyr Zelensky told an audience here on Monday.
“Each of you here understands what it means for a soldier to wait for ammunition, to wait for weeks, months without knowing if support will come at all,” Zelensky told a room of military leaders and students at the National Defense University, about about two-and-a-half miles from the US Capitol.
“Each of you with command experience knows what it means when instead of moving forward you just watch, waiting for armor or equipment while your enemy is complacent and ready to attack,” he added.
Zelensky spoke at a Defense Department school a day before he was scheduled to meet with President Biden and House Speaker Mike Johnson in a last-ditch effort to secure additional funding for his country before members of Congress break for the year-end recess.
Wearing an army green sweatshirt that read, “I am Ukrainian,” Zelensky lamented the gridlock in Congress over an additional aid package requested by President Biden in October that would spend $61.4 billion in new aid for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press after he meets with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgieva at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The package, which also includes about $44.5 billion in support for Israel, Taiwan and the US southern border, was rejected for the third time by the Senate last week.
“Any of you who have sons or daughters [a] combat zones will not get it if they are told that protecting lives can wait because there is little more debate,” Zelensky said. “Let me be frank with you, folks: If anyone is inspired by the unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it’s Putin and his sick cohorts.”
The 45-year-old also looked at what he is expected to discuss with US leaders on Tuesday.
“There are two main things – confidence and security – that are important for internal stability in countries and for international peace,” he said. “America and all free nations need to be confident in their strength in their leadership so that dictators doubt themselves and their power to undermine freedom.
The Ukrainian military is awaiting a decision by US lawmakers to send additional military aid. AP
“When the free world hesitates, that’s when dictatorships celebrate, and their ambitions are most dangerous [take place],” he added,
Noting that his speech was made on the 82nd anniversary of the US entering World War II against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Zelensky said his troops were the “first front” in what he believed to be “the beginning [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] “a global war against freedom.”
“Honorable American sons and daughters, such as are present here today, are forced to join the continental war in Europe,” he said. “And now – without American boots on European soil defending freedom against Russian aggression – American Bradleys, HIMARS, 155-caliber artillery, ATACMS and F-16s can get the job done in Europe exactly how global freedom needs it.”
Zelensky said his troops had been waiting for help for months without knowing if any support would come at all. AFP via Getty Images
“The present generation of free nations should learn from the past battles in Europe that the destruction spread by dictatorship is too greedy, and it needs to be stopped at the beginning,” he added.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who introduced Zelensky, noted that the Ukrainian leader’s speech was planned on short notice, as the trip to DC was only publicly announced on Sunday.
“Students here will learn on the example of Ukraine,” said Austin. “This is an institution that teaches leadership. And Mr. Speaker, you are living proof that one man’s leadership can help create a embattled democracy, inspire the free world and change the course of history.”
“Make no mistake,” he added, “America’s commitment to supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression is unwavering.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
