Washington: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine compared the horror of Russia's onslaught to Pearl Harbour and the 9/11 attacks in an address to the US Congress on Wednesday.
"This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years," Zelensky said.
"Remember Pearl Harbour, the terrible morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky blackened with the planes attacking you," he said, recalling the air raid that brought the United States into World War II.
Live-streamed into the Capitol complex, Zelenskyy said the US must sanction Russian lawmakers and block imports, and showed a packed auditorium of US lawmakers an emotional video of the destruction and devastation in his country.
"We need you right now," he said, adding, "I call on you to do more."
In calling for more economic hits against the Russians, he said: "Peace is more important than income." US lawmakers gave him a standing ovation, before and after his remarks.
Nearing the three-week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelenskyy has used his campaign to implore allied leaders to "close the sky" to prevent the Russian airstrikes that are devastating his country.
It has also put Zelenskyy at odds with President Joe Biden, whose administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or the transfer of military jets from neighbouring Poland as the US seeks to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia.
Instead, Biden will deliver his own address following Zelenskyy's speech, in which he is expected to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. That would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion. It includes money for anti-armour and air-defense weapons.
Appearing in his now-trademark army green T-shirt as he appeals to world leaders, Zelenskyy has emerged as a heroic figure at the centre of what many view as the biggest security threat to Europe since World War II. Almost 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, the fastest exodus in modern times.
Zelensky spoke on the giant screen to many of the same Republican lawmakers who declined to impeach or convict Trump, but are now clamouring for military aid to Ukraine.
Even though Zelenskyy and Biden speak almost daily by phone, the Ukrainian president has found a potentially more receptive audience in Congress.
The Ukrainian president concluded by speaking in English, calling upon the United States to take up what he portrayed as an obligation, given its place on the world stage to intervene in the conflict.
“To be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” he said, as members of Congress grew visibly emotional.
As he addressed them directly, lawmakers sat rapt in their seats. Some scribbled notes, taking down quotations from his address, and many sniffled back tears.
“There was a collective holding of the breath,” said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine.
