Sen. Murphy on new U.S. aid to Ukraine: ‘Right now our obligation is to continue to assist President Zelenskyy and his country’

President Biden’s pledge to provide Ukraine with an additional $800 million to bolster security measures won’t be the last assistance package the U.S. offers in response to the Russian invasion, said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.

“I’m going to continue to press for aid and support for Ukraine,’' Murphy said Friday at a news conference outside the state Capitol. “My fear is that this war is not close to over.’’

Biden’s aid offer came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea earlier this week on behalf of his embattled country. The package includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems as well as 100 drones, shoulder-mounted anti-armor missile systems, grenade launchers and rifles, pistols, machine guns and shotguns.

“President Zelenskyy challenged us to do something from the assault from the air,’' Murphy said. “And we’re doing that.”

Putin, Murphy said, “has decided to purse a policy of brutalization, deliberately targeting civilians… with the goal of bludgeoning the Ukrainian people into submission. I can’t imagine what President Zelenskyy is going through right now, but he has been heroic. as have the Ukrainian people in the face of these attacks.”

The Connecticut Democrat, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, first met Zelenskyy in 2019, shortly after he was elected president of Ukraine.

“I’m a huge fan,’' Murphy said. “I think I’ve met privately with him five or six times over the years. He’s grown into an extraordinary leader.’'

Zelenskyy, a former actor and comedian, has proven himself a skilled communicator and adept user of social media to win public support for his cause.

“We are all inspired by this magnificent young man, President Zelenskyy, and the kind of heroism and leadership that he’s shown,” said Alexander Kuzma, executive director of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, who joined Murphy at the Capitol press conference.

Kuzma called Zelenskyy the “Winston Churchill of our generation.”

In a dramatic speech to Congress on Wednesday, Zelenskyy invoked the Sept. 11 attacks, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Pearl Harbor. His selfie videos from the streets of Kyiv have showcased his mix of vulnerability and resolve.

“This is a guy who was a master of communication before he ran for the presidency and it’s just so interesting watching someone with this very unique skill set use those skills in the middle of a war,’' said Murphy, who is also a skilled user of social media.

“He understands the importance of authentic communication,’' Murphy said. “He realizes that those videos of him walking through the streets of Ukraine are going to command much more attention than him behind a podium.’'

“You have to have a level of confidence just to do a selfie video and hit send,’' Murphy added. “Zelenskyy has no shortage of confidence. In every meeting I have had with him, you see zero signs that he is intimated by any of the settings he is in.”

Murphy and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio are the two senators who have had “the most direct face time” with Zelenskyy, according to Politico.

Murphy was part of the first delegation to meet Zelenskyy after the 2019 election. The Ukrainian president would soon be dragged into U.S. political affairs, after President Trump implored him to investigate Hunter Biden and then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. The call resulted in Trump’s first impeachment trial.

“I hate the fact that [Zelenskyy’s] introduction to the United States was being used as a political pawn but I thought he handled that well,’' Murphy said. “He went quiet for a little while, he didn’t talk as much about U.S.-Ukraine relations during the Trump era because I think he just felt he had to ride it out.’'

When the Russian attacks began, Zelenskyy’s political skills made him an effective advocate for the Ukrainian cause. Murphy praised his leadership in the face of an “unprovoked, unjustified and brutal invasion by Vladimir Putin and the Russian army.”