Zelenskyy addresses Congress as Republicans prepare to take House majority

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered the House chamber to lengthy applause and standing ovation Wednesday evening as some lawmakers unfurled a large blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

“It’s too much,” the wartime leader said self deprecatingly in heavily accented but clear English, addressing a joint meeting of Congress.

Wearing his now-famous army green sweater, Zelenskyy stood at the lectern in front of outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, in her capacity as president of the Senate, and appeared choked up as he looked out at the cheering lawmakers.

“Against all those doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fold,” he said of his country’s war with Russia. “Ukraine is alive and kicking.”

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“Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender,” he said.

In his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded his country nearly 10 months ago, Zelenskyy met earlier with President Joe Biden, who pledged “unequivocal and unbending support” for “as long as it takes.”

“I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart,” Zelenskyy said, saying his country had already defeated Russia in the battle for global hearts and minds.

But he said the war was far from over and would require a combination of “Ukrainian courage and American resolve” to win.

“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” he told the Americans who hold the purse strings of the world’s largest economy and most powerful military. “Let the world see that the United States is here.”

And he warned that if Washington does not help Kyiv stop Moscow now, his country will not be the only one that suffers.

“It’s just a matter of time before they strike against your other allies,” Zelenskyy said, repeatedly referring to the Russians as “terrorists.”

Zelenskyy compared his nation’s struggles and hopes to America’s own, referencing famous military events in U.S. history, from the Revolutionary Battle of Saratoga to World War II’s Battle of the Bulge.

Both presidents said they were confident the bipartisan support for U.S. aid to Ukraine would continue after the new Congress convenes in early January. Most Republican leaders say they want the same.

But some GOP lawmakers and conservative voices think the billions of dollars worth of aid to Kyiv could be better spent in other ways while others argue Washington should not be so involved in trying to tip the scales against Moscow.

For instance, Donald Trump Jr., the adult son of and adviser to the former president, called Zelenskyy “basically an ungrateful international welfare queen” on Twitter hours before the Ukrainian leader landed in Washington.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has become an ally of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy as he tries to secure votes from the right-wing of his caucus to be elected the next speaker, said at a Trump rally in Iowa last month that “under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine.”

McCarthy has said Republicans will continue to support Ukraine, but has said there will be no “blank check” for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy’s address was organized by Pelosi and fellow Democrat Chuck Schumer, who is expected to continue to lead the Senate as majority leader since Democrats retained the majority there in the November election.

The visit comes at a crucial moment in Ukraine’s fight with Russia, which has begun to target civilian infrastructure as temperatures plunge for the winter.