President Joe Biden welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Wednesday and gave a declaration that the United States will continue to financially support Ukraine in its battle with Putin’s forces.
Zelensky said that he and Biden share the “same values” after the president had vowed to help Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”
“We fight for our common victory against this tyranny. And that is real life. And we will win. And I want [to] win together. Not want — I am sure,” Zelensky said while standing next to Biden.
Later, during Zelensky’s message to a joint session of Congress, Zelensky described what it is like “fighting” on the “battlefield.”
“Every inch of that land is soaked in blood. Roaring guns sound every hour. Trenches in the Donbas change hands several times a day in fierce combat and even hand fighting, but the Ukrainian Donbas stands,” he said.
But as people stood and roared in applause on both sides of the aisle, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) remained seated.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) declined to join his fellow congressional leaders in accompanying Zelensky into the Capitol rotunda.
The Ukrainian president told Congress that their money is “not charity,” but an “investment.”
“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle most responsibly,” Zelensky said, adding “your support is crucial, not just to stand in such fight, but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield.”
This trip to D.C. came at the same time that the Biden administration promised another $1.85 billion, including a defensive Patriot missile battery. And $45,000,000,000 is set to be gifted to Ukraine in the Democrats’ $1.7 trillion omnibus bill.
But Zelensky warned that the package, in addition to the billions of dollars in other military and financial aid the U.S. has already given him, is “not enough.”
