As disturbing reports come in on the nightly news of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other nations are asked to do more to stop the assault.
Fighting for his country’s survival, Ukraine’s leader made a “desperate” plea March 5 to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off Russian oil imports as Kyiv tries to stave off the Russian invasion, reports the Associated Press.
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the private video call with U.S. lawmakers by telling them this may be the last time they see him alive. He has remained in Kyiv, the capital, which has a vast Russian armored column threatening from the north,” AP reported.
“Appearing in what is now his trademark army-green shirt in front of a white wall with the Ukrainian flag, he told them Ukraine needs to secure its skies, either through a no-fly zone enforced by NATO or through the provision of more warplanes so Ukraine could better defend itself.”
More can and should be done to stop Russia’s unjustified attack on Ukraine, a sovereign nation with a less powerful military.
The Biden administration and Congress should help Ukraine with military supplies, including warplanes.
The U.S. Congress is working on a $10 billion package of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The U.S. is considering sending American-made F-16s as backfill to former Soviet-bloc countries in Eastern Europe that are now members of NATO. They, in turn, would send Ukraine their own Soviet-era MiGs, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.
Tough sanctions have rightly targeted Russia’s central bank and cut off Moscow from the SWIFT international payment messaging system.
Zelenskyy urged U.S. lawmakers to sanction Russia’s oil and gas sector, which has so far escaped the mounting sanctions imposed by the Biden administration and other countries.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the U.S. will ban all Russian oil. Biden correctly pointed out that the ban will bring costs to Americans, particularly at the gas pump.
But the request by Zelenskyy and a minuscule number of U.S. lawmakers to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine must be opposed by NATO, Biden and Congress.
A no-fly zone would mean sending NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace and then imposing it by shooting down Russian planes that enter Ukrainian airspace. Imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine could provoke a full-fledged war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune
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