Volodymyr Zelensky compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler during a rousing speech to the US Congress which prompted comparisons with Winston Churchill. The Ukrainian President used his surprise trip to the United States to meet President Joe Biden – and make the case for more military aid almost exactly ten months after Putin’s invasion on February 24.
And he did not hold back as he spoked to US politicians at the Capitol, saying: “Just like the brave American soldiers, which gave their lives and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same this Christmas.
“Your money is not charity, it’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.
“Russia could stop its aggression, really, if it wanted to. But you can speed up our victory, I know it.”
Also yesterday, Nancy Pelosi, outgoing Speaker of the US House of Representatives, compared Mr Zelensky’s visit to Churchill’s 1941 visit for talks with President Franklin D Roosevelt after Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbour.
Pelosi, in a letter to fellow colleagues Wednesday, noted that her father, Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro Jr, was a House member when Churchill came to Congress on the day after Christmas “to enlist our nation’s support in the fight against tyranny in Europe.”
She added: “Eighty-one years later this week, it is particularly poignant for me to be present when another heroic leader addresses the Congress in a time of war – and with Democracy itself on the line.”
Just before Mr Zelensky’s arrival, Mr Biden announced a $1.85 billion military aid package for Ukraine, including Patriot surface-to-air missiles.
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