Zelensky Takes His Pro-Democracy Pitch To Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address Congress virtually Wednesday, during which he is expected to ask for the U.S. to step-up its assistance to Ukraine. In recent addresses to U.S. allies, including the parliaments of Canada and Britain, he has framed Russia’s invasion as an existential struggle not just for his country, but for democracy writ large.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1408969
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I’m old enough to remember the good ole days, when the first paragraph of a news article always contained what, where, who, and WHEN.

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Perhaps an incentive for Russia would be an announcement that for every month they are present in Ukrainian territory would result in a year of continued sanctions at the current level.

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Damn. It’s two easy words, you dopes.

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Zelenskyy believes in the American ideal more than most Republicans.

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Just guessing but that would deprive you of a bargaining chip.

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Sadly, nearly half of congress is not pro-democracy. Most of the pro-putin caucus will likely keep silent about their leanings for 24 hours or so given the american public’s pro-Ukraine stance.

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Side-note to the content of the speech (which is great, btw) - the person doing the live translation is… not great?

Can’t hear Z’s voice so you lose all the non-verbal tonalities that convey so much. Translator is struggling to keep up, ends up sounding very monotone and any poetry or rhetorical power in the speech feels lost :disappointed:

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Russia sanctions our poorest senator Joe Biden. I’m not sure Putin understands how this works. Please, Vladimir Vladimirovich, seize Joe Manchin’s yacht.

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I would’ve preferred he delivered the entire speech, his English is perfectly understandable and much more effective. Nice on the fly pivot if that wasn’t planned

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Someone will get-print the text of his whole message?

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That video at the end followed by his closing remarks in English - damn, that was powerful.

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I think Zelenskyy understands this goes beyond Ukraine. He’s speaking to that, very powerfully.

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From what I saw, the Democrats at the end were giviing heartfelt applause…while the Repubs were giving perfunctory claps. Moscow Mitch didn’t look very encouraging.

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C-Span has the full speech already up:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?518685-1/ukrainian-president-zelensky-calls-us-back-fly-zone-provide-defensive-weapons&vod

The video starts at 27:55 for those who want to watch (warning, it contains graphic footage from the war).

Edit: For those who just want to watch the video only, its up on twitter:

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Thinking a bit on how well written the speech was.

(MLK said) “I have a dream… [now] I have a need…”

Really decent scan there

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Thanks for the link. I’ll have to wait until after work to watch and listen to it.

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He has being doing that in all the countries he speaks to…his use of Churchill’s words was profound.

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Yes. Donating to Come Back Alive right now. Anything is better than looking on and feeling powerless to help.

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His hands might fall off.

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