Zelenskyy’s emotional call for American resolve: ANALYSIS

The symbolism was unmistakable — the American vice president and House speaker holding up before both chambers of Congress the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

Just one day before, it had been signed by Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines and given to their president, for him to deliver in person to a rousing ovation.

The gesture capped a hurried, historic visit to Washington by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — his first out of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion 300 days prior — itself a potent symbol that despite relentless Russian attacks, his country has held on, in no small part thanks to unprecedented U.S. and Western support.

That support brought Zelenskyy to a Washington on the verge of change — with Republicans set to take control of the House in a matter of weeks, and some vocal members of the incoming majority opposing more massive U.S. aid.

‘Your money is not charity’

During his two-plus hours of meetings with President Joe Biden at the White House and his visit to Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy’s mission was three-fold — to express his country’s gratitude, to reassure aid was not only worth it, but well-spent, and to ask for more.

“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy we handle in the most responsible way,” he said to applause — adding while Russia “could stop its aggression” whenever it wanted, Congress’s aid “can speed up our victory,” too.

There were even some laughs in the chamber when he said at another point, “We have artillery, yes. Thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.”

The comedian and TV star-turned politician mixed that humor with strength, adding emotional pleas and historical references to America’s own wars for freedom — a path he exalted and then compared to Ukraine’s, as he repeatedly tied the two countries’ fates together.

“Next year will be a turning point, I know it — the point when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom, the freedom of people who stand for their values,” he said to applause.

Fresh from the frontline city Bakhmut, Zelenskyy said the battle there would be Ukraine’s Battle of Saratoga, the critical U.S. victory during the American Revolutionary War that turned the tide against the British. And he compared the bitter December fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region to the effort just underway 78 years ago in the Battle of the Bulge, when U.S. and Allied forces beat back Nazi Germany’s last offensive and pushed onward to V-E Day.

“We do not complain. We do not judge and compare whose life is easier. Your well-being is the product of your national security, the result of your struggle for independence and your many victories. We Ukrainians will also go through our war of independence and freedom with dignity and success,” he added.

Beyond American patriotism, Zelenskyy even appealed to partisan policy favorites — highlighting Russia’s alliance with Iran, a frequent Republican foe, and accusing Tehran of being Moscow’s “ally in this genocidal policy.”

But overwhelmingly, the speech was a hand extended to both sides — both parties, both chambers, both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Zelenskyy thanked the American people “who waved our national flags, who acted to help” and cried out, “May God forever bless the United States of America.”

Zelenskyy’s end goal

Those exhortations have an end goal. Ukrainians are suffering through a brutal winter made worse by Russia’s assault on its energy grid — leaving millions without electricity, heat, and running water. U.S. and Ukrainian officials believe it is a deliberate Russian strategy to crush the country into submission while battle lines are largely stagnant in the winter cold.

“Russia is using winter as a weapon, freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another. It’s the latest example of the outrageous atrocities the Russian forces are committing against innocent Ukrainian civilians, children and their families,” Biden said during a joint news conference — adding the U.S. and its allies are providing equipment to help Ukraine make emergency repairs to and strengthen the stability of its electrical grid.

Zelenskyy implored Congress to do more — tighten U.S. sanctions on Russia, pursue justice for war crimes committed by Russian troops, and of course, provide more military aid.

Congress’s decisions here “can save millions of people. So let these decisions be taken,” he said, adding to one of 18 standing ovations, “We stand, we fight, and we will win because we are united — Ukraine, America, and the entire free world.”

But in the immediate aftermath of his remarks, it was unclear if Zelenskyy got more than the U.S. flag flown over the Capitol that day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented to him after his speech.

Negotiations over a massive $1.7 trillion government spending bill, which includes a $45 billion package for Ukraine, stalled shortly afterwards. Senators hit a major roadblock when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, authored an amendment to reinstate Title 42, the public health policy first implemented by former President Donald Trump that cites the COVID-19 pandemic to block most migrants from claiming asylum at the southern border.

With just hours until a possible government shutdown Friday at midnight, federal funding — including this tranche of aid, a critical lifeline meant to last several more months — is now endangered.

What Zelenskyy did get may also not be enough.

Earlier in the day, the Biden administration announced a $1.85 billion military package that for the first time included a Patriot missile defense system and so-called smart bomb kits — both, more advanced weaponry that Zelenskyy’s forces had long asked for.

But Pentagon officials said the U.S. would have to first train Ukrainian troops in a third country on the Patriot missile battery, one of the world’s most advanced air defense systems, and that would take “several months.”

While it’s newer and longer-range than what’s in Ukraine’s arsenal now, it’s also just one battery. Zelenskyy himself said alongside Biden that Ukraine “would like to get more Patriots” — prompting the U.S. president to laugh and add, “We’re working on it.”

It’s not just Patriots Ukraine wants either. During his remarks to Congress, Zelenskyy also threw one veiled shot at the White House, telling lawmakers, “Ukraine never asked American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us. I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves.”

More U.S. weapons?

Since Russia first invaded, U.S. officials have said they will not provide Ukraine either tanks or warplanes. Transferring Polish fighter jets to Ukraine, for example, could be “mistaken as escalatory and could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO,” as John Kirby, then the Pentagon spokesperson, said in March.

But some analysts argue that by limiting what weapons they are willing to send, the U.S. and its NATO allies are handicapping Ukraine and may ultimately be dooming it to fail against a Russian adversary that has done nothing but escalate.

“The situation on the ground is relatively static, but every day we see Russia attack the electrical grid with relative impunity and the pain inflicted on civilians by taking out Ukraine’s electricity — all because Ukraine’s defense is limited by what the U.S. and NATO are providing,” said retired Col. Steve Ganyard, a former senior Defense and State Department official.

“It’s obviously a political decision, but by withholding longer-range weapons, the U.S. and NATO bear some degree of responsibility for the dark, cold reality in Ukraine this winter,” added Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, arguing Patriots and smart bombs “won’t change that that much, or anytime soon.”

Right after his speech, Zelenskyy left for home, traveling far from the ebullient environment on Capitol Hill to the stark reality on the ground in Ukraine. It seems clear Ukraine may not have survived this long without U.S. and allied aid, but the question Zelenskyy left lingering now is whether the U.S. is providing it enough to help Kyiv win.