Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for help getting more lethal military aid, especially Russian-made fighter jets that Ukrainian pilots can fly, and backed a proposal to ban US imports of Russian oil in a video call Saturday morning with members of Congress.
More than 200 members of the House and Senate attended the call, participants said. Mr. Zelensky spoke for about 25 minutes before answering questions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (right, Kentucky) asked Mr. Zelensky what he needed most, two people said. The President of Ukraine responded with a need for jet fighters. He also mentioned establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but said through an interpreter, “If you can’t do that, at least give me planes,” according to the source.
Ukrainian soldiers unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles last month.
Photo: VALENTIN OGIRENKO / REUTERS
Eastern European allies have Russian warplanes that could potentially be deployed to Ukraine. Senator Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), Democratic No. 2 in the Senate, said the US should help make the transfer possible. “We must remove all obstacles to any measure of support for Ukraine, including finding a way for the United States to compensate our Eastern European partners who want to donate their Soviet-style aircraft to Ukraine,” the statement said.
Another MP said in an interview that Congress could channel funds in a pending spending bill to resupply European allies.
Mr. Zelenskiy said the planes were more important than the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that the US had given the green light to.
The request, made as Congress finalizes fiscal year 2022 spending legislation, which is expected to be the vehicle for new U.S. aid to Ukraine, could complicate those negotiations. With the House set to pass the bill before the Democratic Party meeting on Wednesday, and the government funding bill expiring on Friday, negotiators must decide whether to specify that the $10 billion additional aid includes provisions to speed up aircraft delivery. to Ukraine.
“President Zelensky has issued a desperate appeal to the countries of Eastern Europe to provide Ukraine with Russian-made aircraft,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement after a telephone conversation. “These planes are very necessary. And I will do my best to help the administration facilitate their transfer.”
One of the main controversies is whether arranging the transfer of aircraft to Ukraine would be tantamount to becoming more directly involved in the conflict. Some legislators say this is not the case. The call for aircraft, as well as drones, has prompted lawmakers on both sides to call on the Biden administration to do more to facilitate the transfer of Russian jets.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in response to a question about Ukraine’s request for aircraft, said: “We are discussing and working on everything.” He refused to specifically approve the provision of fighter and ground attack aircraft. But he said: “We are looking at everything again, and as I said, support for Ukraine has not only been unprecedented, it will not only continue – it will increase.”
A White House spokesman said the US is working with Poland on the issue and is consulting with the rest of its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. “There are a number of difficult practical issues, including how aircraft can actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine,” the spokesman said.
“We are also working on opportunities that could provide Poland if it decides to transfer aircraft to Ukraine.” He said the US had no objection to the handover of the aircraft, saying it was “a sovereign decision that any country must make.”
A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said that allied countries are considering providing Ukraine with Russian aircraft, MiG-29s and Su-25s. The US military will replace them with US aircraft, the official said, but it is not clear how that will work.
“We are not standing in the way,” the official said.
President Biden said the US military would not enter Ukraine. And since Russia invaded on February 24, American planes have not flown over Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R, SC) said planes “that Ukrainians could fly without additional training are sitting and waiting for delivery, but there are objections and apparently we are part of the problem.”
Areas captured as of Saturday
Direction of the invasion force
Controlled by or allied with Russia
Major border crossings with refugees
territory of Ukraine recognized by Putin as independent
Chernobyl
Does not work
controlled
separatists
Areas captured as of Saturday
Direction of the invasion force
Controlled by or allied with Russia
territory of Ukraine recognized by Putin as independent
Major border crossings with refugees
Chernobyl
Does not work
controlled
separatists
Areas captured as of Saturday
Direction of the invasion force
Controlled by or allied with Russia
Major border crossings with refugees
territory of Ukraine recognized by Putin as independent
Chernobyl
Does not work
controlled
separatists
Areas captured as of Saturday
Direction of the invasion force
Controlled by or allied with Russia
Major border crossings with refugees
territory of Ukraine recognized by Putin as independent
Areas captured as of Saturday
Direction of the invasion force
Controlled by or allied with Russia
Major border crossings with refugees
territory of Ukraine recognized by Putin as independent
President Biden has said the US will not fight Russian forces in Ukraine, although the US military has provided weapons. The Biden administration said it would send up to $350 million in additional military aid, including “lethal defensive aid.”
The US and NATO resisted direct entry into the conflict. Mr. Zelenskiy pushed for a no-fly zone over his country, but Mr. Biden and allied leaders dismissed the move as an escalation. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said on Friday that the organization is a defensive alliance that does not seek conflict with Russia.
One Senate aide said that Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) plans to send a letter to the Pentagon asking them to send American jet fighters to countries in Eastern Europe that are donating Russian-made fighter jets to Ukraine.
Mr. Zelensky spoke on the phone through an interpreter, using simultaneous translation, so there was little correspondence.
At one point, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) stepped in and asked about a ban on Russian oil imports, two people said. Mr. Zelensky agreed that the US should stop such purchases.
Mr. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would ban domestic imports of Russian crude oil, petroleum products and other energy products in a move intended to stifle a source of income for the Russian president. Vladimir Putin. during his invasion of Ukraine.
According to one interlocutor, the Ukrainian president was firm and calm, and at times spoke forcefully about what he wanted from American lawmakers, broadcast from airports, houses and cars.
“It was very clear that he had thought through what he needed,” said Rep. Jim Hymes (Democrat, Connecticut), adding that Mr. Zelensky looked witty. “He looked better than I look on a Friday night of a standard week.”
Katherine Lucy, Natalie Andrews, Nancy Youssef, and Michael R. Gordon contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at [email protected] and Lindsay Wise at [email protected]
Copyright © 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8