United States lawmakers met virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today as the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows no signs of slowing down.

Lawmakers say he made impassioned pleas for help.

With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine well underway, a bipartisan mix of House and Senate members had a zoom call with the Ukrainian president this morning.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres tell News 12 it was an emotional call. They say the leader - now under siege and facing assassination attempts - described current conditions and implored the U.S. for help.

They say his account was bleak - attacks on churches and schools, thousands of civilian deaths and fading hope.

They say he called for more oil and gas sanctions, more trade restrictions and above all else - aircraft to defend their land from above.

Torres also sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday pushing for Kosovo, a strong U.S. ally in southern Europe to be admitted into NATO to keep it safe against a similar attack. Torres acknowledged the large Albanian community in the Bronx with strong ties to Kosovo, a country with mostly ethnically Albanian people.