President Volodymyy Zelenskyy
* Says blood of dead and dying Ukrainians on NATO hands
* Laments that NATO is weak and disunited
* We are avoiding large scale war in Europe, says NATO
By Jon Egie with agency report
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an emotion laden address to Europeans, has slammed NATO for rejecting a no-fly zone, arguing the decision was giving Russia a “green light” to continue shelling Ukraine.
Zelenskyy called on the military alliance of 30 nations, including the U.S., to ban all unauthorized planes from flying over Ukraine.
“For nine days we’ve seen a fierce war. Our cities are being destroyed,” Zelenskyy said early Saturday morning local time, according to an NBC News translation of his remarks.
“They are shelling our people, our children, residential areas, churches, schools — everything that provides people with a normal life.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that while the Russian invasion was “horrific,” it was NATO’s responsibility to keep its member states safe.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Stoltenberg when asked about the no fly zone Friday. “The only way to actually implement something like a no-fly zone is to send NATO planes into Ukrainian airspace and to shoot down Russian planes, and that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe,” he told reporters.
In his video message, Zelenskyy responded by saying NATO would have blood on its hands for not providing more support.
“All the people who will die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, your disunity,” he said. “All that the NATO alliance was able to do to this day is arrange for the 50 tons of fuel for Ukraine.”
Since Russia invaded Feb. 24, there have been 1,006 civilian casualties, including at least 331 civilian deaths and 19 children, the United Nations human rights office said Friday — but noted the “real toll is much higher.”
Early Friday, Russian forces took control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant after their attack on the site sparked a fire and fears of a nuclear meltdown, but released no radiation.
The blaze at the Zaporizhzhia plant, in southeast Ukraine, was extinguished but not before it spread concerns about the potential for catastrophic fallout across the continent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has raised the specter of nuclear war in Europe, said that he had “no bad intention” toward neighboring countries but warned them against doing anything that might “escalate the situation.”
With the invasion in its second week, Putin has intensified his assault on Ukraine and deepened a crackdown on dissent at home, including new restrictions on foreign and independent media. The country announced Friday it would block Facebook, too.
Russian forces made gains in Ukraine’s south and in besieged major cities, worsening a grave humanitarian crisis despite some progress in talks between the two countries.
Russia and Ukraine agree to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens
Also on Friday, the U.N. Security Council held an urgent meeting where Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of committing “an act of nuclear terrorism” by attacking the power plant and said several employees were injured or killed during the assault, The Associated Press reported.
Following the meeting, Zelenskyy tweeted that “nuclear terrorism requires decisive action in response.”
“At the #UN Security Council meeting, we called for closing the sky over and launching an operation to maintain peace and security. The goal is to save hazardous facilities. The world must not watch, but help!” he said in the tweet.
Zelenskyy will meet with U.S. senators and some House lawmakers Saturday morning via Zoom, according to multiple sources and a notice from the bipartisan Ukraine Caucus on Capitol Hill.
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