Zelenskiy calls on Congress to approve aid

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Author: DANIEL McLAUGHLIN
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

in Kyiv

Ukraine urged the US Congress to approve provision of long-delayed military aid after Germany pledged to send another Patriot air defence system to the embattled country and its top general said his troops were under mounting pressure in the east.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned Iran’s massive air attack on Israel yesterday, and said his compatriots “know very well the horror of similar attacks by Russia, which uses the same Shahed drones and Russian missiles”.

“The sound of Shahed drones, a tool of terror, is the same in the skies over the Middle East and Europe. This sound must serve as a wake-up call to the free world . . . The world cannot wait for discussions to go on. Words do not stop drones and do not intercept missiles. Only tangible assistance does,” he added.

“It is critical that the United States Congress make the necessary decisions to strengthen America’s allies at this critical time.”

Republican congressmen loyal to former US president Donald Trump have for months blocked a White House request for $60 billion (€56 billion) in new military aid for Kyiv, even as Russia has destroyed much of Ukraine’s energy grid, pounded cities such as Kharkiv, and continued a creeping advance in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-supplied Shahed explosive drones at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure...