Zelensky: Ukraine will never surrender

Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington showed that neither the United States nor the Ukrainian president are "ready for peace," Russia's ambassador to the US claimed Wednesday.  

His comments came after Zelensky delivered a historic speech from the US Capitol, expressing gratitude for American support in fighting Russian aggression since the war began — and asking for more.

The Biden administration's "conciliatory statements about the lack of intention to start a confrontation with Russia are just empty words," Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement distributed by the Russian Embassy that decried what he described as Zelensky's "Hollywood-style trip."

Ambassador's warning: Speaking alongside Zelensky earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced the US will send Kyiv a Patriot missile defense system as part of an additional $1.8 billion assistance package to Ukraine.

Antonov said Biden's announcement came despite Russia warning the US against providing the system to Ukraine. “I think everyone understands perfectly well what fate the personnel, manning these complexes on the territory of Ukraine, can face,” he said.

The Russian ambassador also warned that US involvement in Ukraine could lead to an intensification of the conflict. “The provocative actions by the US are steadily leading to an escalation, the consequences of which cannot even be imagined,” he said.

If ever a leader personified their nation, it is Volodymyr Zelensky.

Unbroken, defiant, a civilian forced to don green military garb, the Ukrainian president spent Wednesday in Washington, DC, on his daring first trip out of his country since Russia's brutal, unprovoked invasion in February. He expressed heartfelt gratitude for America's multi-billion dollar weapons and ammunition lifeline — but made clear he'd never stop asking for more.

Appearing with extraordinary symbolism at the White House with President Joe Biden and before a joint meeting of Congress, Zelensky also bore sobering news. A long, bloody battle for freedom, democracy, and ultimately, the survival of a nation Russian President Vladimir Putin says has no right to exist — a fight for which it's still not clear the free world has the stomach — is nowhere near over.

The comic actor-turned-wartime hero effectively put the fate of millions of Ukrainians in the hands of American lawmakers, taxpayers and families at a time when there is growing skepticism among the incoming Republican House majority about the cost of US involvement.

At an emotional peak of his speech in the House chamber, Zelensky handed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris a Ukrainian flag he retrieved from the hottest battle front at Bakhmut on Tuesday.

"Our heroes ... asked me to bring this flag to you, to the US Congress, to members of the House of Representatives and senators whose decisions can save millions of people," he said. "So, let these decisions be taken. Let this flag stay with you."

Editor's note: This post was adapted from the Dec. 22 edition of CNN's Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Read the full analysis here or click here to read past editions and subscribe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a historic speech from the United States Capitol Wednesday night, expressing gratitude for American support in fighting Russian aggression since the war began — and asking for more.

“I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart,” Zelensky said during the joint meeting of Congress, later adding, “Against all odds, and doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.”

But alongside Zelensky’s gratitude was a plea, emphasizing that his armed forces are outnumbered and outgunned by the Russian military even as they fight on. At one point, Zelensky drew laughs from the chamber when he said, “We have artillery, yes. Thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.”

On “the front line of tyranny,” Zelensky argued, American support “is crucial not just to stand in such fight but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield.”

“The world is too interconnected and too interdependent to allow someone to stay aside and at the same time to feel safe when such a battle continues,” he added. “Our two nations are allies in this battle and next year will be a turning point, I know it — the point where Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom, the freedom of people who stand for their values.”

“Your money is not charity,” he asserted. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

Read more here.

The US announced this week that it is providing a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine — but experts say that while it will be a valuable addition to the beleaguered country’s air defense, it’s not a cure-all.

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, former commander of US Army Europe, told CNN that there is likely some unrealistic expectations about what a Patriot battery will be able to do for Ukraine.

It won’t, for example, be available to use immediately after the US agrees to provide it — it takes months to train troops on how to use the complex system, Hertling said, adding that training US troops to serve as maintainers or repairmen takes around a year. And it won’t be able to provide blanket cover for the entire country.

“These systems don’t pick up and move around the battlefield,” Hertling said. “You put them in place somewhere that defends your most strategic target, like a city, like Kyiv. If anyone thinks this is going to be a system that is spread across a 500-mile border between Ukraine and Russia, they just don’t know how the system operates.”

Some context: Ukraine has repeatedly asked for the US Army’s Patriot — an acronym for Phased Array Tracking Radar for intercept on Target — system, as it is considered one of the most capable long-range air defense systems on the market. And though the US did not fulfill the request for the first 10 months of the war, a senior administration official told CNN that the “reality of what is going on” on the ground in Ukraine influenced their decision to do so.

In recent weeks, the Russian military has increasingly attacked Ukraine’s power grid and infrastructure as winter approached and temperatures dropped.

Read more here.

On the last week before the Gregorian Christmas, the optics of Russia’s war in Ukraine have taken on a different dynamic and demonstrate that the battle is not only being fought on the frigid frontlines in Ukraine, but is also becoming something of a PR tit-for-tat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has harnessed the media to become an ever-present figure on screens across the world, beaming himself into parliaments, conferences and even music festivals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a past master of propaganda, is driving his own agenda through his absolute control of Russian state media. Comparisons between the two show a chasm that may reflect the larger narrative of the war.

Last Friday, according to the Kremlin, Putin “spent all day working at the joint staff of military branches involved in the special military operation.”

But the only images that emerged were of Putin at the head of a table of generals, dressed in a navy suit and tie, listening to military chiefs who kowtow to his every whim. There was no mention of a location for this meeting, no readout, nor did the President make any public comments.

Zelensky, by contrast, broadcast his location to the world.

Read the full analysis here.