Zelenskiy Seeks Victory. Will US Pay the Price?
Ukraine’s president was greeted in Congress with standing ovations. Yet even as his country’s needs grow, the prospects for US assistance will inevitably become less certain.
Will the afterglow last?
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Clad in his trademark fatigues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hit all the notes one would expect in his address to a joint session of Congress. Ukraine is on the front lines of a global battle against authoritarianism. Failure to beat back Vladimir Putin now will leave the US and its allies to face an even more menacing future. “Your money is not charity,” said Zelenskiy. “It’s an investment in global security.” Not least, Zelenskiy appealed for more American assistance, as the conflict in Ukraine becomes a grim contest in economic and military endurance—and as the prospects for US assistance become less certain.
Wars have phases, even if the divisions between them are messy. The first phase of this war saw Ukraine preserve its independence by surviving a multipronged Russian attack. The second phase saw Ukraine begin clearing Russian forces from its territory, with major gains in the east and the south.