On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the British Parliament via teleconference and received a standing ovation for his inspiring words.
He discussed what Ukraine has gone through over the past 13 days as Russia invaded and attacked the country. Zelensky also requested a “no-fly zone” be established over Ukraine.
Zelensky mirrored British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his famous June 1940 speech during World War II, saying, “We will not give up, and we will not lose. We will fight till the end — at sea, in the air, we will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”
“The question for us now is to be or not to be,” Zelensky said, reportedly echoing Shakespeare. “I can give you a definitive answer: It’s definitely to be.”
He also asked the United Kingdom to continue with the sanctions, state that Russia is a “terrorist state,” and “make sure our Ukrainian skies are safe.”
“We are looking for your help, for the help of the civilized countries,” he noted. “We are thankful for this help … please increase the pressure of sanctions against [Russia], and please recognize this country as a terrorist state, and please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe.”
“Please make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the greatness of your country,” he added.
He received a standing ovation before and after he made his remarks, and members voiced the need to support Ukraine and put aside political differences.
“Never before in all our centuries of our parliamentary democracy has the House listened to such an address,” U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said following the speech. “In a great European capital, now within range of Russian guns, President Volodymyr Zelensky is standing firm for democracy and for freedom. In his righteous defense, I believe he has moved the hearts of everybody in this House.”
Johnson said the U.K. is going to take action to end the importing of Russian oil.
“I speak for the whole House, when I say that Britain and our allies are determined to press on, to press on with supplying our Ukrainian friends with the weapons they need to defend their homeland … to press on with tightening the economic vice around Vladimir Putin … and we will employ every method that we can, diplomatic, humanitarian and economic … until Vladimir Putin has failed in this disastrous venture and Ukraine is free once more,” he said.
In a video posted to Telegram on Tuesday, Zelensky said, “It’s been 13 days we’ve been hearing promises, 13 days we’ve been told we’ll be helped in the air, that there will be planes, that they will be delivered to us.” He suggested that “those who have not secured the Ukrainian skies from the Russian assassins” hold some responsibility for the resulting number of people killed.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a ban on the U.S. importing Russian oil and natural gas, stating that he is “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy.”
“Russian oil will no longer be accepted at U.S. ports,” the president said during remarks at the White House. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
“The president said his decision comes after consulting with European allies, although he said some are not able to join the U.S. in banning Russian oil. Still, the European Commission (E.U.) said it plans to reduce imports of Russian energy by two-thirds, even though it gets 40% of it from Russia. For its part, the United Kingdom is to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022,” The Daily Wire reported.