First lady Jill Biden prays every day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “still alive,” she told attendees at a Democratic fundraiser in California.
“I just have to turn on the TV every morning and pray that Zelensky is still alive,” she said Saturday at the exclusive fundraiser in San Francisco’s wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood, while addressing “what’s on everybody’s mind.”
The event was attended by about 25 guests, including California lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis. Biden had made the trip to the Golden Gate City to attend the funeral of Richard Blum, the husband of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died Feb. 27.
“The phone just never stops ringing, all through the night,” said Biden, giving some insight into the chaotic situation in the White House as Russian forces advance closer towards Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. “And Joe is up, trying to help solve this crisis.”
Biden painted a precarious picture of the situation in Ukraine, which has so far displaced 1.4 million people and killed thousands.
She noted the United States is providing billions of dollars worth of humanitarian and military aid to the country, but did not seem confident that it would ensure Ukraine’s independence or thwart a third world war.
“We don’t know where it’s going to go. We just don’t know,” she said of the conflict. “And we’re all just holding our breath, aren’t we? That something, some answer will come so that we don’t get into this world war.”
Soldiers help families and children cross a destroyed bridge during an evacuation in the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine on March 5, 2022. ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images“It’s unbelievable, right?” she added, “To think that that could happen in our lifetime.”
Zelensky met with U.S. Senators Friday morning and pleaded for additional aid while also rebuking them for failing to act sooner in sending help and imposing economic sanctions on Russia. The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly begged the United States and its allies to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine to stop Russian air attacks — a move Russian President Vladimir Putin has said would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
Biden told guests she was confident her 79-year-old husband is the man for the job, having experience dealing with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War era serving in the US Senate since 1973.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US lawmakers to establish a no-fly zone in his country as Russians continue to bomb cities. Ukrainian Defense Ministry/ZUMA Press Wire Service“I feel, and I think you must as well, that he is the right man for this moment in history,” she said.
Kounalakis — a former United States ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine — agreed that Biden’s administration “will keep this conflict from spreading and will keep our allies safe,” she said.
