How backing Ukraine is key to the West’s security

WHAT DO YOU do when words start to fail you? In the case of President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose heroic language galvanised the West to support Ukraine after Russia invaded it almost two years ago, the answer is that you become angry and frustrated. Despite his efforts, $61bn of American money that would help Ukraine is being held up in Congress and the European Union has failed to sign off a four-year grant of €50bn ($55bn). Ukraine needs arms and money within weeks. on December 30th, Mr Zelensky was in irascible, table-thumping form—far removed from the man we met in Kyiv just weeks after Russia struck. His central argument is that when the West helps Ukraine it is acting in its own interests. “Giving us money or giving us weapons, you support yourself,” he told us. “You save your children, not ours.” Mr Zelensky is right. But his message is not getting through.