Zelensky defines courage in our time

Volodymyr Zelensky receives a standing ovation from the members of congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

Americans have seen foreign leaders speak to congress before, but Wednesday’s address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was unique.

There he was, on the other side of the world, in a green T-shirt, reading from a script in Ukrainian as a woman translated his remarks into English. No teleprompter, none of the energy that comes from being in the room.

Still, it was an extraordinarily powerful historic moment. You could not remain unmoved by his simple, direct appeal. “The destiny of our country is being decided,” Zelensky said, framing Ukraine’s struggle as a defence of democracy, independence and freedom.

He expressed gratitude for US generosity, but made urgent appeals for more – a no-fly zone, air defence systems, combat jets, more sanctions, withdrawal of all American companies from Russia, the closing of US ports to Russian trade.

Then an emotionally compelling and heart-rending video played of the violence and mass death Russia is inflicting on the Ukrainian people. Zelensky closed by speaking in English, calling for continued US leadership to “keep justice in history”. He received a standing ovation from congress.

More powerful than words to congress, however, has been ­Zelensky’s heroism and that of the Ukrainian people. Outgunned and outnumbered, they’ve fought off the Russians for three long, hard and bloody weeks, defining courage for our time.

Any world leader today would suffer by the comparison, and Joe Biden does. To his credit, Biden has handled the crisis well, doing many of the right things, including working closely with NATO allies and supporting crushing sanctions against Russia. But Biden’s past actions likely emboldened Vladimir Putin.

Before Biden became president, Putin had been conditioned by the Obama-Biden administration’s weak response to Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014, which involved imposing modest sanctions but refusing to arm Ukraine.

Putin’s attacks on civilians during Syria’s civil war, starting in 2015, in support of brutal Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, were met with only light sanctions levied by the US.

Once Biden assumed the presidency, he discarded a powerful geopolitical advantage – America’s energy independence – by cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, halting leases for drilling on federal land and waters, restricting access to capital for oil and gas companies, and piling on regulatory burdens. Putin must have been amazed by the US squandering such a huge edge.

Then on May 19, 2021, the Biden administration removed sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, which had been imposed by Donald Trump, without concessions from Russia. Biden renewed sanctions late that northern summer, but he had already sent the wrong signal.

In late May, Biden issued his defence budget. Putin surely realised a 1.6 per cent increase was – after inflation – a decline in American military spending. That too suggested weakness.

Then, before a mid-June summit between the two leaders, Biden paused a $US100m military aid package to Ukraine, signalling again to Putin a lack of American resolve. It took until September for the US to restart military assistance to Ukraine – and even then, a bipartisan group of senators criticised the package as inadequate.

Perhaps the most damaging thing Biden did was his abject surrender in Afghanistan. Putin was probably astounded that with the country stabilised and only a minimal residual force remaining, America would abandon it to the Taliban. Such things get noticed in the Kremlin.

Putin might have invaded Ukraine without Biden’s missteps. We’ll never know.

Despite Biden’s capable handling of the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his earlier actions may have already diminished him in the eyes of Americans. A Washington Post-ABC poll, issued February 24, as the Russians invaded Ukraine, found only 36 per cent of Americans said Biden is a strong leader while 59 per cent said he wasn’t. That’s dangerous territory for any president, especially only a year into his term.

For now, the spotlight rightly is focused not on the American President but the Ukrainian President. A former comedian who came to office almost by accident, he’s now entered the pantheon of great wartime leaders. His words and personal courage have stirred the world to action. Whatever fate awaits him and his nation, those who watched Zelensky’s address to the joint congressional session won’t soon forget it. It was a privilege to see a leader in whom honour is personified. The least we can do is have his back.

Karl Rove twice masterminded the election to the White House of George W. Bush

The Wall Street Journal