Washington. President Biden on Wednesday announced new $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with Congress and the President to approve a NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Ukraine and provide more air defenses. .
Those additional $800 million military deliveries, on top of the $200 million announced by Mr. Biden earlier this week, will include 800 anti-aircraft systems, drones, 20 million rounds of ammunition and 9,000 anti-tank systems. But Mr. Biden’s statement falls short of Zelenskiy’s request for jets and some sort of no-fly zone imposed by NATO.
The president, who thanked Zelensky for his speech and said he watched the proceedings from the White House residence, said the supply of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons from the United States had taken a toll on Russian troops.
“The American people are responding to President Zelensky’s call,” Mr. Biden said.
Special Report: Biden announces increase in aid to Ukraine after Zelensky’s speech to Congress 14:00
Earlier Wednesday, Zelenskiy urged Congress and the president to support some kind of no-fly zone and provide more systems to protect Ukrainian skies. He had a direct message for Mr. Biden: “To be the leader of the world is to be the leader of the world.”
Lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, want the president to do more, especially when it comes to providing Ukrainian air defense systems and fighter jets. The Biden administration has dismissed the idea of transferring the planes as it fears that Russia might see it as an escalation.
McConnell called Zelenskiy’s message “incredibly effective” and said, “I think the message to President Biden is that he needs to step up his game.”
Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, praised Zelensky’s “incredibly powerful message, which reaffirmed that the Ukrainian people are standing up to a horrific military attack from Russia.”
She said Ukrainians “stand for freedom and deserve our support. They deserve more than us. They deserve what we can deliver much faster than we can.”
“What he showed, in particular through the video and what he asked for, you know, things like a humanitarian no-fly zone, you know, I think the world cannot evade. And I think it’s very important. I think his message resonates across party circles,” Cheney continued. “And I think you’re going to see continued and increasing pressure on the administration to do more and faster.”
Some lawmakers, such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, have rejected the no-fly zone but continue to call for more support for Ukraine.
“A no-fly zone dramatically increases the risk for US pilots in direct combat with Russian pilots, and this is an unacceptable risk of escalation,” Cruz told reporters, adding that we still “have a lot to do, except that US military personnel and women are in danger. He advocates providing Ukraine with “lethal weapons and, in particular, fighter jets” and criticizes President Biden for “personally vetoing the provision of fighter jets that Ukraine desperately asks for.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Greg Meeks, a Democrat, said Congress would support Zelensky.
“Seeing and listening to President Zelensky, if we don’t unite as Americans and with our NATO allies, then it will help Putin. Now is the time for unity,” Meeks said.
Nancy Cordes contributed reporting.