Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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Members of the United States Congress, Republicans and Democrats, rose to their feet time and again Wednesday night, nearly drowning out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in one emotional standing ovation after another. It was an extraordinary evening, concluding an extraordinary day during a crucial moment in history.
The entire day was geared to three audiences – the American people and its leaders, the Ukrainian people and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky’s message resonated loudly to all of them: From the moment he landed in the US, dressed in his trademark olive green clothes, to the warm welcome he received in the White House from President Joe Biden, to the rapturous reception in the Congress, a place where few foreign leaders receive the honor of speaking to a joint meeting of the two chambers.
The visit aimed to convince Americans to continue supporting Ukraine, to show Ukrainians that there’s reason to remain hopeful and resilient and to prove to Putin that Ukraine is not about to let up.
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CNN
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Watch Zelensky’s historic speech to Congress
The Ukrainian president is an eloquent speaker, but the images alone spoke with soaring power. Biden’s hand on Zelensky’s shoulder. The warmth exuded by so many members of Congress as they greeted him. And then there were the words.
Imagine being Putin, who just yesterday visited one of his very few allies, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and seeing the politically polarized United States come together to embrace Zelensky.
Imagine Putin hearing Biden say, as he did in a press conference at the White House after speaking with Zelensky for more than two hours, “And it was very important for him and everyone else to see that President Zelenskyy and I are united, two countries together, to make sure he cannot succeed…. “It’s important for [Putin] to know that we are going to do everything in our power – everything in our power to see that [Zelensky] succeeds”
The Ukrainian president finally had that visit to the White House he had requested years ago from President Trump, hoping that the image would deter Putin’s aggression. The visit would have to wait until a different American president, and it would be too late to prevent Putin’s assault.
Zelensky made his historic trip at a crucial moment in what future generations may come to view as one of the defining conflicts of our time: the battle between democracy and autocracy, in which Ukraine today is the blazing, blood-soaked, shivering front line.
He came to tell Americans “Thank you.” And he said it over and over. “I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart.” But that was only the first part of his message to the country that has supplied the weapons that have helped enable Ukraine to push back against a much bigger enemy: Zelensky came to explain why this is not just Ukraine’s fight.
“Your money is not charity,” he assured a Congress about to debate billions more in military and economic support, where skeptical Republicans will soon have more influence. “It is an investment in the global security and democracy, that we handle in the most responsible way.”
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CNN
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Watch Zelensky unveil flag during historic speech to Congress
