Mrs. Speaker,
Members of Congress,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Americans! Friends!
I am proud to greet you from Ukraine, from our capital - Kyiv. From a city that is under missile and air strikes by Russian troops. Daily. But it does not give up. And it didn't even think to give up for a single minute! Just as dozens of other cities and communities in our country, which found themselves in the worst war since World War II.
I have the honor to greet you on behalf of the Ukrainian people, brave and freedom-loving people. For eight years they have been resisting the aggression of the Russian Federation. They sacrifice the best children - sons and daughters to stop the full-scale Russian invasion.
Now the fate of our state is being decided. The fate of our people. It is being decided whether Ukrainians will be free. Whether they will preserve their democracy.
Russia has attacked more than just our land and our cities. It went on a brutal offensive against our values. Basic human values. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom. Against our right to live freely in our country, choosing our own future. Against our desire for happiness. Against our national dreams. Just like yours, ordinary people of America. Just like those of everyone in the United States.
I remember your Rushmore National Memorial. The faces of your prominent presidents. Those who laid the foundations of America. As it is today. Democracy, independence, freedom and care for everyone. Everyone who works diligently. Who lives honestly. Who respects the law.
We in Ukraine want the same for ourselves. All that is a normal part of life for you.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Americans!
In your great history you have pages that will allow you to understand Ukrainians. Understand us now. When it is needed most.
Remember Pearl Harbor. Terrible morning of December 7, 1941. When your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Just remember that.
Remember September 11th. A terrible day in 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities into a battlefield. When innocent people were attacked. Attacked from the air. In a way no one expected.
In a way you could not stop it. Our state experiences this every day! Every night! For three weeks now! Different Ukrainian cities... Odesa and Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy, Zhytomyr and Lviv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death. For thousands of people.
Russian troops have already fired nearly a thousand missiles at Ukraine. Countless bombs. They use drones to kill more precisely. This is a terror Europe has not seen for 80 years!
And we ask for a response. For the response from the world. For the response to terror. Is this too much of a request?
To establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine is to save people. Humanitarian no-fly zone. Conditions under which Russia will no longer be able to terrorize our peaceful cities every day and night. If that's too much, we offer an alternative.
You know what defense systems we need. C-300 and other similar systems.
You know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft. Powerful, strong aircraft. To protect your people. Your freedom. Your land. Aircraft that can help Ukraine. That can help Europe.
And you also know that they are available. But on land. Not in the Ukrainian sky. They do not protect our people.
"I have a dream" - these words are known to each of you. Today I can say: I have a necessity. The necessity to protect our sky. The necessity for your decision. Your help. And it will mean exactly the same thing. The same thing you feel. When you hear: I have a dream.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Friends!
Ukraine is grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support. For all that your state and your people have already done for our freedom. For weapons and ammunition, for training and funding, for leadership in the free world, which helps put pressure on the aggressor economically.
I am grateful to President Biden for his personal involvement, for his sincere commitment to the defense of Ukraine and democracy around the world.
I am grateful to you for the resolution, which recognizes all those who commit crimes against the Ukrainian people as war criminals.
However, now, in the darkest time for our country, for the whole of Europe, I urge you to do more! New packages of sanctions are needed every week. Until the Russian military machine stops. Restrictions are needed as regards everyone on whom this unjust regime is based.