- President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized NATO countries on Monday for refusing to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
- Vladimir Putin has also warned the West against declaring a no-fly zone.
- Zelensky's rousing speech evoked Churchill and Shakespeare, and MPs gave it a standing ovation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized NATO countries on Monday for refusing to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, pushing the West to do more to repel Russia's invasion while also vowing that Ukraine would not yield to the Russians just like the British people stood up to the Nazis in World War II.
"We did feel that, unfortunately, the alliance does not work properly," Zelensky said during a video address to the House of Commons, according to a simultaneous translation of his remarks.
Zelensky has expressed outrage over the West's refusal to do more to repel the Russian invasion, pointing out that women and children continue to be killed in the interim.
Ukraine is not a NATO member and while countries in the alliance are shipping lethal aid like anti-aircraft missiles and sniper rifles, they've stopped short of their forces entering the war zone.
President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and other top NATO leaders have repeatedly ruled out declaring a no-fly zone, a move that Putin warned would be tantamount to becoming a participant in the war. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also declined to support such an action since it would almost certainly require Western nations to enforce such a declaration by shooting down Russian aircraft. In the US' case, this risks an active shooting war between the world's two largest nuclear powers.
Johnson, who was in attendance for Zelensky's speech, joined members of Parliament and even Speaker Lindsay Hoyle in giving Zelensky a rousing standing ovation. Normally, it is a breach of Parliament's rules for members to openly applaud.
—Duncan Baker (@duncancbaker) March 8, 2022
MPs wearing headphones for simultaneous translation filled the floor of the House of Commons for the speech, with members of the House of Lords and other MPs spilling into the galleries. They were joined by the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, who was welcomed by the Speaker.
Some MPs were dressed in blue and yellow, while others wore lapel pins of the Union Jack with the Ukrainian flag, or blue and yellow ribbons and ties. One Conservative MP, Pauline Latham, wore a ribbon next to the medal given to her when she was awarded with the Ukrainian Order of Merit in January 2020.
Zelensky ended his address by invoking William Shakespeare's famous question of "To be or Not to be?," vowing that the Ukrainian people's answer can be found in the modern equivalent to Prime Minister Winston Churchill's own words.
Churchill famously declared the nation "would never surrender" to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Churchill's speech before the House of Commons in 1940, often referred to as the "We shall fight on the beaches," is among the most famous addresses in history. His speech came as Hitler's Blitzkrieg stormed across Europe, taking France and other nations as the US remained on the sidelines. British troops barely evacuated Dunkirk before Germany began its relentless bombing campaign of London.
"And I would like to remind you the words that the United Kingdom have already heard, which are important again," Zelensky said. "We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight till the end at sea and in the air, we will continue fighting for our land whatever the costs. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets."
Johnson told MPs that Zelensky "is standing firm for democracy and freedom" from the "great European capital" of Kyiv, "now within range of Russian guns".
" I think today, one of the proudest boasts in the free world is: Ya Ukrainets' – 'I am a Ukrainian'," he said.