Appearing on NBC’s Today show Wednesday morning, Ukrainian parliament member Oleksandra Ustinova slammed President Biden’s State of the Union address as “a total disappointment” in the midst of her country being “executed” by Russian forces. In addition to pleading for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, Ustinova also demanded “real sanctions” against Russia and Putin.
“To watch what’s happening in your country is unthinkable. What do you think when you see those images from back home?,” co-host Savannah Guthrie asked the politician. Ustinova replied: “Well, I start crying almost all the time. So as I start every morning with texting my friends, my family if they’re okay. Because they’re under heavy shell fires, they’re being bombed every day, heavily bombed.”
She then noted: “I think the whole Ukraine was watching Biden’s speech last night, President Biden’s speech.”
That prompted Guthrie to wonder: “The middle of the night but Ukraine was watching, Ukraine was listening. Did you hear what you wanted and needed to hear from President Biden?” Ustinova ripped into the speech:
To be honest, it was a total disappointment for us. I can explain why. Today the whole world is watching Ukrainians being executed. I cannot name it the other way around. The right definition is an execution because we see bombs going into our civilian houses every day. We see children dying every day, on the streets and in their houses if they didn’t make it to the bomb shelter. We see bombs coming to the orphanages, to the schools.
And we had been promised a protection by the international community. We gave up our nuclear weapons. And today, when I see President Biden saying that we’re going to protect every inch of the NATO territory. Excuse me, we’ve been promised the same thing when we gave up our nuclear weapons...
After noting how “The U.S. and NATO have been very forceful, saying there will not be NATO or U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine” and “they will not enforce a no-fly zone,” Guthrie asked: “What is your message to them?” Ustinova responded:
I don’t have a message, I have a question. What is the red line that Putin has to cross for NATO and the U.S. to step in? We’re not asking for boots on the ground, we’re asking for the Iron Dome or for the no-fly zone. We need the protection of the sky so that the bombs and the missiles do not hit our kindergartens.
On the topic of economic sanctions, Ustinova hammered the Biden administration for the measures not being nearly strong enough:
And talking about the sanctions, that’s what I want to point out to Americans. I’ve heard the Vice President’s speech right now in the morning, here in the studio. And she was saying you have to protect your economy and that’s why the energy sector is not under sanctions. Well, then we have to go and tell every American that the President of the United States is protecting them from paying extra 20, 30 cents for a gallon of gas and that’s why so many Ukrainians have to die. We have to tell them that SWIFT was implemented for seven out of 350 banks.
She later reiterated: “And again, if we want to do sanctions, those have to be real sanctions with no exemptions....If we’re talking about the energy sector, this is what’s feeding Putin. That’s his main money, where it comes from. And there are no sanctions for the energy sector.”
Immediately following the State of the Union Tuesday night, NBC stood out among the networks by actually panning the speech for giving short shrift to the war in Ukraine.
Here is a full transcript of the March 2 interview:
7:36 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And with us now, here in Washington, Oleksandra Ustinova, she is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. Congresswoman, good morning, it’s good to see you.
OLEKSANDRA USTINOVA [UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER]: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Ukraine Parliament Member on Biden’s Message]
GUTHRIE: I wish it was under better circumstances. To watch what’s happening in your country is unthinkable. What do you think when you see those images from back home?
USTINOVA: Well, I start crying almost all the time. So as I start every morning with texting my friends, my family if they’re okay. Because they’re under heavy shell fires, they’re being bombed every day, heavily bombed. And frankly speaking, I was watching – I think the whole Ukraine was watching Biden’s speech last night, President Biden’s speech.
GUTHRIE: The middle of the night but Ukraine was watching, Ukraine was listening. Did you hear what you wanted and needed to hear from President Biden?
USTINOVA: To be honest, it was a total disappointment for us. I can explain why. Today the whole world is watching Ukrainians being executed. I cannot name it the other way around. The right definition is an execution because we see bombs going into our civilian houses every day. We see children dying every day, on the streets and in their houses if they didn’t make it to the bomb shelter. We see bombs coming to the orphanages, to the schools.
And we had been promised a protection by the international community. We gave up our nuclear weapons. And today, when I see President Biden saying that we’re going to protect every inch of the NATO territory. Excuse me, we’ve been promised the same thing when we gave up our nuclear weapons. And now, we’ve been given $1 billion in support. We have totally destroyed – the Russians have totally destroyed all of the airports in Ukraine, the majority of the roads. We are grateful for help but we need protection in our skies. We have been protecting ourselves on the ground, but if we do not protect our sky – if there is a no-fly zone or if there is no dome to protect it with the air defense, we will all go down, people will literally die.
GUTHRIE: The U.S. and NATO have been very forceful, saying there will not be NATO or U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine.
USTINOVA: I’m not asking for troops.
GUTHRIE: They’ve also said they will not enforce a no-fly zone because that would put them in direct confrontation, potentially, to enforce it, with the Russian military. What is your message to them?
USTINOVA: I don’t have a message, I have a question. What is the red line that Putin has to cross for NATO and the U.S. to step in? We’re not asking for boots on the ground, we’re asking for the Iron Dome or for the no-fly zone. We need the protection of the sky so that the bombs and the missiles do not hit our kindergartens.
So every time I hear about the possible provocations from Putin, Putin is a psycho. He doesn’t need to be provoked. We did not do anything. We didn’t do anything in 2014, we did not provoke him now. He still invaded. And he’s bombing the cities, he’s bombing civilians. So that’s why every time I hear that, I have – frankly speaking, I don’t think NATO will be protecting Poland or the Baltic countries when Putin invades. They will be saying it was a provocation from those countries. Because we had been promised the same thing.
And talking about the sanctions, that’s what I want to point out to Americans. I’ve heard the Vice President’s speech right now in the morning, here in the studio. And she was saying you have to protect your economy and that’s why the energy sector is not under sanctions. Well, then we have to go and tell every American that the President of the United States is protecting them from paying extra 20, 30 cents for a gallon of gas and that’s why so many Ukrainians have to die. We have to tell them that SWIFT was implemented for seven out of 350 banks.
GUTHRIE: Do you think, as the Vice President and the President have indicated, that the sanctions are working and can work to deter Putin, or do you think he will essentially shrug them off no matter how much pain is inflicted on his economy and his regime?
USTINOVA: Sanctions is a long-term tool that will bring the economy down. If we need it fast, we need the basic protection of the sky now. And again, if we want to do sanctions, those have to be real sanctions with no exemptions. Because so far, it’s seven out of 300 banks. This is not sanctioning. If we’re talking about the energy sector, this is what’s feeding Putin. That’s his main money, where it comes from. And there are no sanctions for the energy sector.
GUTHRIE: We have to stop it there but I hope we’ll speak again. Oleksandra Ustinova, and I know you’re expecting a baby in a month, which brings you to this country, and you’re working hard on behalf of yours. So thank you very much for being here. Appreciate it.
Hoda, we’ll send it to you.
CRAIG MELVIN: Wow.
HODA KOTB: Very powerful conversation.
MELVIN: Yes, it was.
KOTB: Savannah, thank you.
