Zelensky calls on US to remember Pearl Harbor and 9/11: ‘Our country experiences the same every day’

In his address to Congress, Zelenskiy compared the attacks in Ukraine to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled the United States into World War Two, and begged lawmakers, and Biden directly, for more help.

"This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for our life, for an answer to this terror from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for? To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?" Zelenskiy asked through an interpreter.

"If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative," he said. "You know what kind of defense systems we need," adding that he knows the United States has them.


Acoording to Reuters, Biden has referred to the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as "World War Three," and the Pentagon has refused requests to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine both emphasized newfound scope for compromise as peace talks were set to resume three weeks into a Russian assault that has so far failed to topple the Ukrainian government.

On Tuesday, the White House said Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow terms a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbor.

Biden has ratcheted up sanctions imposed on Russia in recent days. He has called for a suspension of Russia's trading status that affords its exported products lower tariffs in the international arena and announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.