Mr. Zelensky told lawmakers that a ban on Russian oil would be “even more powerful” than removing some Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system, according to Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska. This past week, Republicans and Democrats ratcheted up pressure on the White House to prohibit the importation of Russian energy products, even though experts have said such a move would be largely symbolic.
Lawmakers have also been urging the administration to ship more military equipment to arm the Ukrainians, even after Mr. Biden last weekend authorized the shipment of a $350 million package of weapons to the country, a package that represented the largest single authorized transfer of arms from U.S. military warehouses to another country. On Saturday, Mr. Zelensky stressed the need for additional planes and drones in the absence of a NATO-led no-fly zone, lawmakers on the call said.
His plea came after Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia said they would not send fighter jets to Ukraine.
“Zelensky’s message is simple: ‘Close the skies or give us planes,’” Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, said in a statement after the meeting. “Let’s be cleareyed about our options: A no-fly zone means sending American pilots into combat against Russian jets and air defenses — in a battle between nuclear powers that could spiral out of control quickly.”
Mr. Sasse added that the United States “should absolutely send Ukrainians planes, helicopters and UAVs,” or unmanned aerial vehicles.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, also pledged to Mr. Zelensky during the call that he and Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, were working “very hard in bipartisan fashion” to quickly approve a $10 billion aid package to Ukraine, as requested by the Biden administration this past week.