Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech to the Canadian parliament on Tuesday in which he asked, once again, for allied countries to establish a no-fly zone in Ukraine.
The appeal was made up of parallels between the attacked Ukrainian cities and the main Canadian provinces, and ended with Zelensky being cheered by lawmakers – similar to what happened in the broadcast made to the British parliament, to which the Ukrainian leader has also spoken.
“I know we are friends, but I would like you to understand and feel what we feel. We want to live and be victorious, we want to prevail for the sake of our lives,” said Zelensky after drawing a parallel between the Canadian city of Vancouver being bombed as Mariupol is being bombed, as well as residential buildings and other facilities in Ukraine, also targeted by the Russians.
“Can you imagine calling out to your friends, your friendly nation, and asking, ‘Please close the sky, close the airspace, please stop the bombing.’ How many more missiles will have to fall on our cities before you make it happen? And they express their deep concerns about the situation. When we talk to our partners, they say, ‘Please wait, wait a little longer,’” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president’s request is not new, and his speech to parliament also referenced a recent speech by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz.
That’s because Trudeau said last week that allied countries had to be “careful” when supplying Ukraine with weapons, especially considering what it would mean for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) position in the war.
“There are challenges at the border in terms of security, but we are working with all allies. We have to be careful not to expand or scale, we want to shrink or end this conflict. We need to be careful how best we can support them,” Trudeau said at the time.
This Tuesday, Zelensky recovered the same speech, without directly quoting the prime minister: “Some people speak in an attempt to prevent an escalation. At the same time, in response to our aspiration to become a member of NATO, we heard no response,” he declared. “Often it’s hard to see the obvious,” he said.
“I know you are friends of the truth, so understand how important it is to close our airspace, increase efforts, increase sanctions so that they don’t have a dollar to invest in these efforts against us,” added the Ukrainian.
Photos — Satellite images reveal destruction in the suburbs of Kiev, Ukraine
In addition to the requests and thanks made to the Canadians for sending weapons and humanitarian supplies, Zelensky gave information about the war figures: according to him, 97 Ukrainian children had been killed as a result of Russian attacks so far.
“You know better than others that this attack on Ukraine is an attempt to alienate the Ukrainian people. This is a war against the Ukrainian people. It’s an attempt to destroy everything we’ve done—our nation, our character. You gentlemen know this very well,” he continued.
“Do not interrupt your efforts, but expand them to bring peace to our once peaceful country,” he concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
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