Zelenskyy calls for global show of support behind Ukraine as NATO summit begins

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a worldwide boost in support for Kyiv as NATO leaders take part in an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine.

"Come to your squares, your streets," Zelensky said in his nightly video address to his nation and the world on Wednesday. "Make yourselves visible and heard. Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been meet by unexpectedly strong pushback from Ukrainian forces — though it is unclear for how long the Ukrainian military, far outmatched in size and resources by Russia, will be able to hold the attackers off. 

In Russia, the country's government and economy continue to suffer under the weight of extensive and expanding international sanctions. 

Zelensky, in his most recent video address, said he would ask NATO countries to issue "effective and unrestricted" support to Ukraine, including any weapons that may be needed by Kyiv. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said prior to the start of the emergency summit on Thursday that the Russian invasion has effectively established a "new security reality in Europe" and that it will be "necessary to respond" in ways that match and counter the precedent set by Russia last month.