Zelensky called on the US Congress to approve aid to Ukraine

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky had a telephone conversation with Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US Congress Mike Johnson, calling on the American politician to quickly approve a new package of American military assistance to Ukraine. Zelensky announced this on Thursday, March 28, in his Telegram channel.

According to Zelensky, he informed the speaker of the lower house of Congress “regarding the situation on the battlefield, especially regarding the sharp increase in Russian air terror.” In this situation, the quick adoption of assistance by Congress for Ukraine is critically important, the President of Ukraine emphasized in a telephone conversation.

He clarified that over the past week alone, cities and communities of Ukraine were attacked by 190 Russian missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones and 700 guided aerial bombs, in addition, following Russian airstrikes, the largest Ukrainian hydroelectric power station was disabled.

Republicans block aid to Ukraine

Since the fall of 2023, there has been debate in the US Congress on the issue of allocating regarding $60 billion (regarding 55 billion euros) of military assistance to Ukraine in the current fiscal year ending September 30. Earlier, on February 13, the US Senate, in a final vote, approved an aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan totaling $95.3 billion (regarding 89 billion euros).

However, this aid package cannot pass a vote in the House of Representatives, where the majority belongs to Republicans, who demand in exchange for the adoption of the package to tighten border controls on the US border with Mexico. US President Joe Biden accuses Donald Trump, his potential rival in the fall presidential elections, of blocking military aid to Ukraine. Trump previously called on his Republican Party comrades not to make any compromises on protecting the US southern border.

Zelensky: Ukraine must become stronger

Russian troops might launch a new massive offensive in Ukraine as early as the end of May or June, Vladimir Zelensky said on the same day in an interview with the American television channel CBS News. To counter this threat, he said, “we need help now.”

The war will continue until Ukraine becomes strong, Zelensky said. “Ukraine is not yet as strong as it can be. We need to be given the opportunity to act on the battlefield,” he emphasized, noting that in order to successfully confront the aggressor, the Ukrainian armed forces, firstly, need American Patriot air defense systems to unblock the skies.

Secondly, it is necessary to achieve parity in artillery, while now the Russian troops have advantages both due to a larger number of fire weapons and due to their greater range of destruction. Finally, thirdly, Ukraine needs long-range missiles, Zelensky told CBS News.