Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to address Parliament amid Russian invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday as his country continues its fierce resistance to the unprovoked invasion by Russia nearly three weeks ago.

Zelenskyy is scheduled to speak virtually to members of the House of Commons and the Senate in a joint address at 11:15 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. He is expected to repeat calls for a NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine, something Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO leaders have ruled out.

Trudeau along with interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and others will offer remarks about the increasingly dire situation in Ukraine.

The sovereign democracy has been resisting the Russian invasion launched by Vladimir Putin since it began on Feb. 24, but Ukrainian leaders have called for more help from western countries and NATO.

Russia’s advance has been stalled and is proceeding more slowly than many anticipated, but Putin’s forces are facing renewed accusations of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas.

The United Nations estimates 2.8 million Ukrainians are now refugees, forced to flee to neighbouring countries as millions of others remain as part of the resistance effort.

Zelenskyy’s address comes after four days of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials that failed to produce any breakthroughs on Monday, and as Zelenskyy continues to urge Putin to meet.

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In recent days, Russian forces have attacked a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol and launched missiles at an international military training facility 20 kilometres from the Polish border.

Dozens are dead as a result, with more than 100 others injured.

Poland is a NATO country and the provocative missile strikes raised fresh questions about Putin’s willingness to test the military alliance, which has so far sought to avoid any direct confrontation over concerns about the potential escalation that could result.

Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons.

Zelenskyy’s address follows similar speeches made to the British Parliament and the European Union Parliament. His remarks to the EU on March 1 were so stirring that it caused the official translator to choke up with emotion.

During a speech to the British Parliament last week, Zelenskyy received a standing ovation after an impassioned plea to lawmakers. He vowed: “We will fight to the end.”

Zelenskyy is due to speak to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.