Zelensky Invokes Pearl Harbor, MLK & 9/11 In Emotional Plea For "Humanitarian No Fly Zone"

Zelensky was greeted in his virtual address with standing ovations by a full body of lawmakers from the House and Senate before before and after the speech. It was broadcast live on all major US networks, and as fully expected he made an emotional appeal for a US-backed No Fly Zone over Ukraine to stop Russia. "I am addressing President Biden, you are the leader of the nation, your nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace," Zelensky said.

The speech was laced with American patriotic references - clearly also an appeal to the broader US public - to Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr, and an urge for Americans to "remember" the heroism and leadership etched on Mt. Rushmore. The speech further had a consistent theme that Russia had not just attacked Ukraine's people and values - but that it was attack on "basic human values" and thus the West itself. He specified that 1,000 Russian missiles and drone strikes had rained down on the country since the invasion began on Feb.24.

Early in the speech he called the war "a terror Europe has not seen in 80 years" while quickly invoking that the West should "close the sky" - a familiar refrain. But he also acknowledged "Is this a lot to ask for?...a humanitarian no fly zone?" And seeming to implicitly reply "yes" to his own question - as he knows the White House has said this would assuredly lead to WW3 - he offered an "alternative"...

"If this is too much to ask, then we ask for an alternative - powerful and strong aircraft to protect our people our freedom our land."

"Help Ukraine, help Europe," he said. He also urged for "new packages of sanctions" to hit Russia hard "every week" until its military halts the invasion. He further urged sanctions on "all politicians in Russian Federation who remain in their offices" for the "state terror" against Ukraine.

Citing that 100 children have died at the hands of the invading Russian military machine, he urged for the assembly to carefully reflect while watching a couple minute long video, which spliced between peaceful scenes of children playing in city parks and horrific missile strikes on neighborhoods. The short but powerful video ended by freezing the below words against a black screen for a lengthy interval...

Here's the part of the speech where he invoked MLK to argue for lethal aircraft from the US...

“You have them, but they are on [land] not in the Ukrainian sky, they do not defend our people,” Zelensky said. 

“‘I have a dream,’ these words are known to each of you,” the Ukrainian president said, invoking the words of civil-rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., “Today, I can say I have a need, I need to protect our skies.”