Zelensky calls for official recognition of Russia as a ‘terrorist state’ in meeting with US senators

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US senators Saturday, and called for Russia to be officially recognized as a “terrorist state,” he said in his nightly address.

“I held talks today with a delegation of US senators led by Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell in Kyiv,” he said.

“I believe that this visit once again demonstrates the strength of bipartisan support for our state, the strength of ties between the Ukrainian and American nations.”

Discussions of US support for Ukraine and tightening sanctions on Russia also took place during the meeting, according to Zelensky.

“I expressed gratitude for the historic decision to renew the Lend Lease program. I called for the official recognition of Russia as a terrorist state,” Zelensky said.

US President Joe Biden signed into law the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 on May 9. The new law, which eases some requirements for the US to lend or lease military equipment to Ukraine, passed with a bipartisan majority in the US House and Senate.

Its sponsors said the legislation gives Biden much broader authority to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia and addresses how the US can get weapons to Ukraine faster.

The Ukrainian president also highlighted in his nightly address food security, an issue he said he deals with on a “daily basis.”

“More and more countries around the world are realizing that Russia, by blocking the Black Sea for us and continuing this war, puts dozens of other countries at risk of a price crisis in the food market and even famine,” Zelensky said.

“This is another incentive for our anti-war coalition to act more decisively together,” he said.