Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky zooms in on US lawmakers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks Saturday morning with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and House members via Zoom.

Zelensky scheduled the 9:30 a.m. call with lawmakers ahead of congressional debate on a $10 billion emergency funding request that would provide humanitarian aid and security assistance, NBC News reported.

The entire Senate and Ukraine’s 80-member House caucus were invited to speak with Zelensky during the video call, the first time lawmakers have been able to speak with the embattled leader since Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion 10 days ago, according to The Hill.

Senator Marco Rubio shared an image of the conversation on Twitter on Saturday morning, showing Zelensky sitting near a Ukrainian flag and wearing his now-signature army green t-shirt.

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On Friday, Zelensky issued a scathing speech criticizing NATO for refusing to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying the decision gave Russia a “green light” to continue bombing his country. .