Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, weighed in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, calling it a “total disappointment.”
During an appearance on “Today,” host Savannah Guthrie asked Ustinova, “Did you hear what you wanted and needed to hear from President Biden.”
She responded, “To be honest, it was a total disappointment for us.”
Ustinova explained, “Today, the whole world is watching Ukrainians being executed. I cannot name it the other way around.”
She noted Ukraine had “been promised protection by the international community.”
Ustinova told Guthrie when she saw “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 are grateful for help but we need protection in our sky.”
Questioning what it will take for the United States and NATO to step in, Ustinova continued, “We’re not asking for boots on the ground. We’re asking for the iron dome or no-fly zone.”
Check out the video below:
“To be honest, it was a total disappointment.” – Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, on President Biden’s State of the Union address pic.twitter.com/fLhShKuSWF
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 2, 2022
When asked if she believes Putin will just “shrug off” sanctions, Ustinova replied, “Sanctions is a long-term tool that will bring the economy down… If we want to do sanctions, those has to be real sanctions with no exemptions.”
During Biden’s speech, he said the U.S. would “join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy.”
A CNN poll found the percentage of those who had a “very positive” reaction to Biden’s address is at a 15 year low, as IJR reported.
Only 41% of speech watchers said they had a “very positive” reaction to the president’s speech. Twenty-nine percent had a “somewhat positive” reaction while 29% had a “negative reaction.”