Zelensky pleads with US for warplanes as Russia intensifies shelling of Mariupol

Fighting for his country’s survival, Ukraine’s leader made a “desperate” plea Saturday to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off Russian oil imports as Kyiv tries to stave off the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile the mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol said Russian forces have intensified shelling in the port city, including with the use of airplanes.

President Volodymyr Zelensky opened the private video call with US lawmakers by telling them this may be the last time they see him alive. He has remained in Kyiv, the capital, which has a vast Russian armored column threatening from the north.

Appearing in what is now his trademark army-green shirt in front of a white wall with the Ukrainian flag, he told them Ukraine needs to secure its skies, either through a no-fly zone enforced by NATO or through the provision of more warplanes so Ukraine could better defend itself. Zelenskyy has been pleading for a no-fly zone for days, but NATO has refused, saying it could provoke a widespread war with Russia.

The hourlong exchange with some 300 members of Congress and their staffs came as Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians who have fled the country grew to 1.4 million.

“President Zelensky made a desperate plea,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

He said Zelensky wants the US to facilitate the transfer of planes from Eastern European allies. “I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,” Schumer said.

The US is considering sending American-made F-16s as backfill to former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe that are now members of NATO. They, in turn, would send Ukraine their own Soviet-era MiGs, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.

There appears to be a logistical problem, however, in sending the F-16s to Poland or other East European allies because of a production backlog. These countries would essentially have to give their MiGs to the Ukrainians and accept an IOU from the US for the F-16s. The situation is further complicated because the next shipment of F-16s is set for Taiwan, and Congress would be reluctant to delay those deliveries as it eyes China.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated the fighter jets are under consideration after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba at the Poland-Ukraine border outside the town of Korczowa.

“We are talking about and working on everything,” Blinken told reporters.

Blinken reiterated that the US support for Ukraine “not only has been unprecedented, not only is it going to continue, it’s going to increase.”

The US Congress is working on a $10 billion package of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Schumer told Zelenskyy lawmakers hope to send it quickly to Ukraine, according to a person on the call and granted anonymity to discuss it.

When Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell asked about the types of military support his country needs, Zelensky said drones as well as planes would be the most helpful.

During the call, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia asked Zelensky about the idea of banning the import of Russian oil to the US, according to two other people granted anonymity to discuss the private call. They said Zelensky indicated such a ban would be effective in putting pressure on Russia.

In Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko told Ukrainian TV: “The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege, Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas.”

Boychenko said that thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire as they arrived in the morning for a possible evacuation through a safe passage corridor. Russia promised to stop the shelling of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, and Volnovakha, a city in the east, but violated the ceasefire.

Russia has made significant advances in the south, clearly seeking to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. Capturing Mariupol, which has been fending off the attack for six days, could allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday echoed the president’s assertion that Russia has lost more than 10,000 troops.

Kuleba also said in a video message released by the Ukrainian government that the Russians had lost dozens of aircraft and hundreds of armored vehicles.

The claim could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn’t offer regular updates on their casualties. On Wednesday, military officials revealed a death toll of 498.

“Russians keep bearing devastating losses on the ground, and I cannot understand how mothers, wives and daughters of these Russian soldiers bear this pain, seeing how President Putin sends more and more of their beloved ones to Ukraine,” Kuleba said.

Kuleba added, “Ukraine is bleeding but Ukraine has not fallen and stands (with) both feet on the ground.”

Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said Saturday that talks between Moscow and Kyiv to seek a way to end the bloody conflict will resume on Monday.

“The third round of negotiations will take place on Monday,” Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party and an envoy to the talks, said on his Facebook page.

He did not provide any further details.

The first two rounds of talks on resolving the Russia-Ukraine war produced no breakthrough, though the two sides have agreed to meet again.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday that the UN is committed to scaling up its humanitarian operations to help both those who have stayed in Ukraine and the millions who have fled.

Guterres relayed the promise to Kuleba in a phone call on Saturday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Dujarric said the two also discussed the conditions for safely evacuating civilians, including foreigners, from combat zones.

Ten days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 1.45 million people have fled the battered country, according to the UN-affiliated Organization for Migration in Geneva. The UN has predicted that the total number of refugees could swell to 4 million, to become the biggest such crisis this century.

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting Monday afternoon on the escalating humanitarian needs that have arisen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.