Zelensky to address US Congress in coming hours

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the US Congress today as he uses the West’s great legislative bodies as a global stage to orchestrate support against Russia’s crushing invasion.

Zelensky’s livestreamed address into the US Capitol will be among the most important in a unique and very public strategy in which he has invoked Winston Churchill, Hamlet and the power of world opinion in his fight to stop Russia.

Nearing the three-week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelensky has used his campaign to implore allied leaders to “close the sky” to prevent the Russian airstrikes that are devastating his country. It’s a singular request and now a rallying cry in popular culture.

It has also put Zelenskyy at odds with US President Joe Biden, whose administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or the transfer of military jets from neighboring Poland as the US seeks to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia.

Instead, Biden will deliver his own address following Zelensky’s speech, in which he is expected to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.

That would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion. It includes money for anti-armor and air-defense weapons, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Zelensky is set to address the Knesset next week but will speak to lawmakers via Zoom because the Israeli parliament is in recess.