Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Congress to pressure all US companies to leave Russia

Addressing the US Congress via a live video link, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked, as expected, for a no-fly zone over Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues.

But the president, who recently spoke in front of the British and Canadian parliaments, also called for specific financial interventions against Russia. “I’m asking to make sure that the Russians do not receive a single penny that they [can] use to destroy people in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. He also asked for:

• “New sanctions…every week until the Russian military machine stops;”
• An extension of sanctions to “all politicians in the Russian Federation who remain in their offices and do not cut ties with those who are responsible for the aggression against Ukraine;”
• All US companies to “leave Russia…immediately because it is flooded with our blood;”
• US representatives to put pressure on companies in their constituencies that are still doing business with Russia to cut ties.
• All US ports to be closed to Russian goods.

“Peace is more important than income, and we have to defend this principle in the whole world,” Zelenskyy said, to conclude his plea for additional economic measures.