President Joe Biden ordered another $800 million in shoulder-fired missiles, drones and small arms to Ukraine on Wednesday -- bringing the total in U.S. military aid to $1 billion in just the past week -- as NATO agreed on plans for a historic military buildup to confront Russia.
Both decisions were announced within hours of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy making a plea to Congress for the world to impose a no-fly zone over his country and to send the Soviet-designed S-300 air defense system to undercut Russia's air campaign.
The U.S. and the West have so far balked at imposing a no-fly zone but Biden indicated work is underway to get the Ukraine president the air defense system following his "passionate message" to lawmakers. Zelenskyy showed Congress a video of Russia's bombing of residential areas, destroyed cities, and dead and wounded children.
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"Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people," Zelenskyy, in his now trademark olive T-shirt, said through an interpreter in a live feed from Kyiv. "Russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at Ukraine. Countless bombs. They use drones to kill us with precision."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces made little progress in recent days, and his massive invasion appeared to be bogged down more than two weeks after the invasion. The Russians had encircled the capital Kyiv, and heavy bombing and fighting with Ukrainian forces continued around other large cities, according to a senior U.S. defense official. On Wednesday, Russian ships began shelling areas outside of Odesa, a key port city on the Black Sea, though it was unclear whether it was a prelude to an amphibious assault.
Lawmakers teared up at the images of destruction and death Zelenskyy showed them, calling the speech "heartbreaking," "inspiring" and "powerful."
"It makes me want to throw on my uniform and go help," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, an Army National Guard veteran, told reporters.
The new aid package approved by Biden will include 800 more Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 2,000 Javelin anti-tank weapons, arms that have proved very effective in the hands of Ukrainians fighting the Russian invasion. There will also be 6,000 AT-4 anti-tank weapons and 1,000 light armor weapons, according to the White House.
It will also include 100 tactical drones, a sign of American willingness to send cutting-edge military equipment, Biden said in a national address. The president authorized $200 million in Ukraine military aid over the weekend, which itself came on the heels of $350 million and hundreds of sanctions from the U.S. and other nations that have decimated the Russian economy.
"We will keep up the pressure on Putin's crumbling economy, isolating him on the global stage," Biden said. "That's our goal: Make Putin pay the price, weaken his position, while strengthening the hand of the Ukrainians on the battlefield and on the negotiating table."
Zelenskyy has been pressing the West for the S-300, a surface-to-air missile system that is built by Russia, though not used by the U.S., and could give his forces another advantage by matching Russian hardware on the battlefield.
"At the request of President Zelenskyy, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems, and then munitions for those systems," Biden said.
Slovakia reportedly agreed Wednesday to provide the S-300 systems. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was set to travel to Slovakia for talks on Thursday after a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels. He has been conducting talks with Slovakia, Bulgaria and other countries about providing air defense systems, the senior defense officials said.
"I know everybody's focused on the S-300, but there's lots of different air defense systems, and we're talking to folks that have them and might be willing to give them to Ukraine," according to the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
Lawmakers are also backing Zelenskyy's call for the S-300 system.
"I think there's a growing interest in giving them as much as we can so that they can maintain their own air equality," said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "It means making it dangerous for the Russians to be in the air ... whatever it takes to do that, short, I would think, of American pilots."
NATO defense ministers, including Austin, also emerged Wednesday from a meeting in Brussels with an agreement to expand NATO forces, especially in eastern Europe, following Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in February with more than 150,000 troops.
By June, the alliance expects to have a plan for "substantially more" forces in the east under a higher level of military readiness, as well as more equipment and supplies at their disposal, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. Those forces will include more air and missile defense, carrier strike groups, submarines and combat ships, he said.
Despite the moves by Biden and NATO -- and Zelenskyy's emotional speech -- there still appeared to be minimal support in Congress for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Lawmakers, even those typically considered the most hawkish, remain largely opposed to a U.S.- or NATO-enforced no-fly zone for fear of sparking a wider war with Russia.
"We have to make decisions based on our national security interests and not just emotional decisions," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said at a news conference after Zelenskyy's speech, though he added he might change his mind about a no-fly zone if Putin uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Some lawmakers still support providing Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine and are signaling they are prepared to help in any way they can. Graham unveiled a draft resolution Wednesday that would put the Senate on record supporting the MiG transfer. In addition, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and committee ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told reporters their panel, which has jurisdiction on arms sales, is prepared to sign off on providing Poland with U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to replace the MiGs.
But Poland publicly scuttled the transfer plan during early talks last week by announcing it would send the MiGs to Ramstein Air Base in Germany instead of Ukraine. The Biden administration has balked at delivering fighter jets directly to Ukraine and said it doubts they would be effective on the battlefield, despite Zelenskyy's request.
Some Democrats have also now turned against the idea.
"The MiG wouldn't survive for a minute in Ukrainian airspace right now, given what the Russians have, given the surface-to-air missiles they have, given the quality of their fighter jets," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., who instead called for giving Ukraine more drones beyond those announced by Biden on Wednesday.
-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.
-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.
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