“Unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine”: King Charles to US Congress

The defense of Ukraine demands the same Anglo-American resolve shown together through two world wars, the Cold War, and Afghanistan, King Charles III told a joint session of the US Congress on 28 April, in only the second address by a British monarch to the chamber after Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.

"Today, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defence of Ukraine"

The King recalled his grandfather King George VI's 1939 visit — the first by a reigning British sovereign to America — when "the forces of fascism in Europe were on the march, and some time before, the United States had joined us in the defence of freedom. Our shared values prevailed."

The Ukraine pivot came later in the speech, after passages on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and NATO Article Five solidarity: 

"Today, Mr. Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defence of Ukraine and her most courageous people. It is needed in order to secure a truly just and lasting peace."

Explore further

Trump claims ongoing “good conversations” with Putin and Zelenskyy, won’t say when

NATO and "decades" of US-allied ties

Charles framed the wider alliance as inseparable from US engagement:

"From the depths of the Atlantic to the disastrously melting ice caps of the Arctic, the commitment and expertise of the United States Armed Forces and its allies lie at the heart of NATO — pledged to each other's defence..." He added that US-UK "defence, intelligence and security ties are hardwired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades."

"We ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward looking"

Charles also delivered a direct appeal against US disengagement:

"I pray with all my heart that our alliance will continue to defend our shared values with our partners in Europe and the Commonwealth and across the world, and that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward looking."

He framed the present as "an era that is in many ways more volatile and more dangerous than the world to which my late mother spoke in this chamber in 1991," warning: 

"Our alliance cannot rest on past achievements or assume that foundational principles simply endure."