The past week was heavily dominated by the crisis in Ukraine, with President Joe Biden under pressure to increase military assistance to the country while seeking to avoid World War III with Russia. At home, the Biden administration has been struggling to come up with solutions to help alleviate spiking gas prices. Here are the quotes of the week.
“We used to say, Monday — Monday is a hard day. It’s war in our country, so every day is a Monday.
“We are all in our places. We are all working. Everybody where they should be.
“I’m in Kyiv. My team is with me, and Territorial Defense is in their places, the Army is in their ranks, and doctors, diplomats, politicians, journalists — we are all fighting.”
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky records a video of himself in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
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“I would hope that the oil companies would join with us in trying to minimize the pain at the pump. … We’re looking at ways and means to do that as well.”
– House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on rising gas prices.
“We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
– President Joe Biden announces a U.S. ban on Russian oil imports.
“Let me say this to the oil and gas companies and to the finance firms that back them: We understand that Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine is causing prices to rise.
“But it’s no excuse to exercise excessive price increases or padding profits for any kind of effort to exploit this situation or American consumers, exploit them.”
– Biden issues a warning about price gouging.
-“So when will the decision be made? Listen: We have a war! We do not have time for all these signals. This is not ping pong! This is about human lives! We ask once again: Solve it faster. Do not shift the responsibility. Send us planes.”
– Zelensky criticizes the United States after it rejected an offer from Poland to send jets to stave off Russian advances.
“Everything that Putin touches dies. I am a citizen of Israel, and if I think about a second citizenship, I would be proud to have a Ukrainian passport. I can’t afford to be a citizen of a country that kills children of other countries and tortures their children who don’t agree with it. I do not want to be an accomplice of a criminal regime and an accomplice in a crime against humanity at least simply possessing the status of a citizen of this state.”
– Russian-Israeli oligarch Leonid Nevzlin says goodbye to his Russian passport.
“Close the sky, and we will manage the war on the ground ourselves.”
– Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska writes an open letter calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“We were opposed to the bill from the outset, but we chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind the scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
“But despite weeks of effort, we were ultimately unsuccessful. I called [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary, and transgender kids and families.”
– Disney CEO Bob Chapek voices opposition to controversial Florida sex education legislation dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics.
“Now that Russia has made these false claims and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or to create a false flag operation using them. It’s a clear pattern.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismisses claims from Russia about alleged U.S. biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine.
“I have a lot of them. You know a song that does get people moving? You know, I’ll play beautiful — I love Broadway stuff. You know, Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, etc. You know what gets them rocking? ‘YMCA.’
“The gay national anthem. Did you ever hear that? They call it the gay national anthem. But ‘YMCA’ gets people up, and it gets them moving. But we have a lot of good selections, and people love it when I do it.”
– Former President Donald Trump sings the praises of the famous Village People anthem.
“The Russian’s ability to circumvent the sanctions with cryptocurrency is probably highly overestimated on the part of maybe them and others.
“We are, as a community and with our partners overseas, far more effective on that than I think sometimes they appreciate.”
– FBI Director Christopher Wray on Russia’s ability to evade sanctions through cryptocurrency.
“It would be a tragedy if this woman won the presidency.”
– Iuliia Mendel, Zelensky’s former press secretary, in a tweet about Vice President Kamala Harris that was quickly deleted.
“Russia would pay a severe price if they used chemical weapons.”
– Biden issues a warning amid suggestions Russia may mount a false flag operation.
“The claim that the oil industry makes, that is often parroted by friends inside this body, is that the path to American energy independence runs through drilling for more oil in the United States of America. That is not true.”
– Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on U.S. energy independence.
“It really is for the birds … & bats*** crazy.”
– Reaction from a Western Security Council diplomat after listening to Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia claiming that the U.S. is helping to fund efforts to develop biological weapons in Ukraine using birds and bats.
“We’ve already experienced cruise missiles, multiple rocket launchers, and heavy aerial bombs. What is next? What will be the next target?”
– Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya.
“All you have to do is look at the map and see that where Romania exists geographically, and as is the case for our allies on the eastern flank, that there are potential vulnerabilities.”
– Harris, in a trip to Romania, responds when asked about the economic toll the war is taking on Americans.
“Democrats are rising to meet the moment, relying — rallying the world on the side of peace and security. We’re showing strength, and we’ll never falter. But look, the idea — the idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand, and don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say: That’s called World War III. OK? Let’s get it straight here, guys — that old expression ‘Don’t kid a kidder.’”
– Biden speaks to Democrats at a retreat in Philadelphia.
“I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy.
“I do really want to emphasize that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press. I think that there’s now [an] ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ mentality. And I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening.”
– Actress Mila Kunis, who was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
