From left to right, Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel listen to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing the House of Commons via video on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/EPA-EFE
March 8 (UPI) -- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an emotional message to the British House of Commons on Tuesday that his people will not give up their fight against Russia.
"We will not give up and we will not lose," he said in a video address that included an appeal for Britain to increase sanctions against Russia. "We will fight till the end at sea, in the air...we will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets...we will fight on the banks of the rivers."
Those words echoed those of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's wartime speech from June 1940 during World War II.
Zelensky, 44, reminded British politicians that just as their country was forced to fight the Nazis in World War II, Ukraine also doesn't want to lose its country.
He recounted details of the "13 days of war...the war that we didn't start and didn't want."
As one example, he said that on Day 4 after the invasion, Ukrainians began capturing Russian soldiers.
"We have not been torturing them," he said. "We remained humane. On Day 5, the terror against us was going on against children, against cities and constant shelling had been taking place around the country, including hospitals, and that didn't break us. "
He said recent Russian attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 50 children. "These are the children that could have lived. But these people have taken them away from us."
Near the end of his 15-minute speech, Zelensky appealed to Britain to recognize Russia as a terrorist state.
The Ukrainian leader, a former actor and comedian, invoked Shakespeare when he said that the question has been raised about whether Ukraine was "to be or not to be. For 15 days, this question could have been asked. But now I can give a definitive answer. It's definitely yes, 'to be.'"
Zelensky received a prolonged standing ovation at the start and finish of his remarks.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Zelensky's speech "moved the hearts of everybody," adding that Britain would continue economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that America was banning imports of Russian oil to "inflict further pain" on Russia for attacking Ukraine.
