Zelenskyy Makes Final Appeal to Americans

The Ukrainian president made a passionate plea, imploring the United States to increase its efforts to help his country repel the Russian invasion.

With Russian troops surrounding Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with Congress in a last-ditch effort for help. Ukraine’s survival depends on assistance from the United States and its allies. The challenge is to maximize this aid without giving Russia any pretext to see aid as direct intervention and risk dragging the world into uncontrollable escalation.

A Moving Message

It was impossible not to feel moved by Zelenskyy’s message, which was accompanied by a gut-wrenching video that would have moved even the coldest audience. The Ukrainian president repeated much of what he told Canadian members of Parliament, with two key differences.

First, he reiterated his request for a no-fly zone, but, as he must be beginning to understand, this option is impractical from the American perspective. He added a more realistic request that Joe Biden could fulfill immediately, namely providing him with the means to counter the deadly Russian aerial bombardment and arming the Ukrainian citizens who are offering heroic resistance at ground level.

He concluded his speech in English as he referenced a number of symbols dear to Americans. He said that he understood that Americans feared the prospect of a third world war, but maintained that, from his perspective, the war between democracy and totalitarianism has already begun and he is in the middle of it.

The United States to the Rescue

Yesterday, President Biden announced a budget of approximately $800 million to arm Ukraine. The aid includes sophisticated anti-aircraft defense systems meant to slow the advance of Russian armor, plus a large number of small arms and ammunition to help Ukrainian conscripts make life difficult for the invading forces.

This aid does not meet all of Ukraine’s demands, but it will certainly strengthen its resistance capabilities. It is still unclear why the U.S. is so reluctant to provide the aircraft that the Ukrainians have requested.

President Biden will soon travel to Europe to reinforce NATO’s support for Ukraine and reiterate the allies’ determination to resist any incursion into their territory.

Partisan Calculations

In American foreign policy, partisan and election calculations are never absent from the concerns of policymakers. However, there is no guarantee that the U.S. president’s international leadership will pay off politically. For Biden and the Democrats, Republican division over Russia represent an opportunity for political gain, as the de facto leader of the Republican Party and still presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has never significantly distanced himself from his sympathetic remarks about Vladimir Putin.

In a highly polarized partisan environment, Republicans will not stand in the way of sending aid to Ukraine, but they will not give quarter to a president weakened by a lingering pandemic and out-of-control inflation. Another important question is whether rallying Americans for Ukraine and against Putin’s Russia will be enough for Republicans to break free of Donald Trump’s influence.