It is hard to overstate the power of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s just completed address to the U.S. Congress, asking for help to “close the sky,” then showing an absolutely gut-wrenching montage of Ukrainian civilian casualties, including children, and then concluding his plea for more help in English.
Zelensky seemed to recognize the U.S. and NATO were not going to declare and enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying that if the no-fly zone is too much to ask, then send more air defense and aircraft: “To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to save people, is this too much to ask? Humanitarian, no-fly zone — Something that Russia would not be able to [use to] terrorize our free cities. If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative. You know what kind of defense systems we need, the S-300 and similar other systems. You know how much depends on the battlefield, on the ability to use aircraft. Powerful, strong aviation to protect our people, our freedom, our land.”
The S-300 is “a family of Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems capable of engaging aircraft and UAVs in addition to providing some cruise and ballistic missile defense capability.” The Ukrainian military trained on Russian-made weapons, so sending them American-made systems that work differently would require training the Ukrainians on the new systems.
Barely a day after giving the “green light to transferring Polish MiG-29s to Ukraine, the Biden administration suddenly reversed course and declared, “it simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it.” Is the Biden administration going to turn around again?
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer likely complicated life for President Biden by giving Zelensky the biggest possible stage before Congress and the world. Zelensky not-so-subtly suggested that Biden is not leading the free world when it needs leadership the most.
He specifically said to Biden, “I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths. And this is my main issue as the leader of the people, great Ukrainians, and as the leader of my nation. I’m addressing the President Biden: You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Congress will want to send anything it can to Ukraine, and likely want the U.S. to take an even harder line against Russian aggression. But the Biden administration’s main focus appears to be trying to deescalate the conflict, and deterring Russia from any temptation to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine:
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke today with General Nikolay Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, to reiterate the United States’ firm and clear opposition to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Sullivan clearly laid out the United States’ commitment to continue imposing costs on Russia, to support the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, in continued full coordination with our Allies and partners. Mr. Sullivan told General Patrushev that if Russia is serious about diplomacy then Moscow should stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns. Mr. Sullivan also warned General Patrushev about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.