Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that some Americans are balking at the idea of sending billions more in aid to Ukraine amid an economy that – by pre-Biden definitions – is entering a recession and is marked by nearly record breaking inflation.
Still, the Ukrainian leader stressed that Americans must support their defensive war for the good of “communal values” and the safety of the average person in America.
Zelensky claimed that Russia’s invasion is better termed as “the war against those values that are professed in the United States and in Europe,” according to a report by Newsweek published today.
“As long as we are resisting it,” said Zelensky, “the integrity of the United States will continue, therefore we are giving our lives for your values and the joint security of the world.”
Volodymyr Zelensky and his top advisors record a video outside on February 25, 2022
Apparently responding to Western concerns about the U.S. economy that appears to be on the brink of ruin, Zelensky said it is “nothing” compared to their fight.
“Inflation is nothing, COVID is nothing,” said Zelensky. “Ask those people who lost their children, their peace, their property at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Who is thinking about masks and COVID? Who is thinking about inflation?”
“These things are secondary, the most important thing is to survive and preserve your life, your family, and your country,” the Ukrainian president added, before demanding, “We are doing this job, but the West has to help us.”
He concluded, “We are fighting for absolutely communal values.”
Zelensky visits the Wailing Wall in Israel in 2020
So far, the West has spent tens of billions of dollars in either weapons, equipment, or advisors sent to Ukraine. At least $54 billion has been authorized by Congress and Joe Biden and sent from the United States, and many expect more money will be sent to the war torn country before the end of the year.
Unquestioning support for Ukraine has become a divisive issue for Republicans.
Opinions range from the more acceptable position held by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – many expect him to run for president in 2024 – who claims that Zelensky is the Ukrainian equivalent to President George Washington, arguably the most famous and important of America’s Founding Fathers, to the position held by Rep. Matt Gaetz and a score of other America First politicians, who say that funding for Ukraine’s war must be halted as part of a pro-America foreign policy.
Russia launched what it calls a “special military operation” against Ukraine in February of this year after a years long standoff over disputed territories in eastern Ukraine. Moscow claims it launched the “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians living in the Donbass region from Ukrainian state violence, while Kiev and its allies maintain the invasion was unprovoked.
