The president of Ukraine echoed Winston Churchill and invoked the fight against Nazism as he made a direct plea to Britain to do more to help protect his country in the fight against the Russian invasion.
In an unprecedented and emotional speech broadcast live to the House of Commons, Volodymyr Zelenskiy channelled Churchill when he told a packed chamber: “We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, the fields, the shores and in the streets.”
Ukraine “will not lose” to Russia, he vowed. Zelenskiy, who received long ovations from MPs before and after his speech, also cited Shakespeare to describe the plight of his country under Russian invasion, saying it was a question of “to be or not to be”.
“For 13 days this question could have been asked but now I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes, to be,” he said, according to a translation of his speech, which was delivered in Ukrainian and broadcast live from Kyiv.
“And I would like to remind you the words that the United Kingdom has already heard, which are important again. We will not give up and we will not lose.” » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Tuesday, March 8, 2022
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