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"The Washington Post has written that Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska declined the White House's invitation to participate in the US President's address to the Congress because they wanted her to sit next to Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in a Russian prison. The Office of the President of Ukraine countered, saying that she declined for a different reason.
Source: The Washington Post; the Office of the President in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda
Quote from WP: "Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, declined an invitation from the White House to attend Thursday’s State of the Union address, forgoing one of Washington’s most dignified events and underscoring the complicated politics facing her war-torn country."
Details: Officials familiar with the plans said that American First Lady Jill Biden was to be seated next to Olena Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya. The image of the two women, each a symbol of resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was supposed to be a powerful backdrop for President Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress.
But people familiar with the discussions in Kyiv said that Navalnaya's potential presence has made Ukrainians uncomfortable, in particular due to Navalny's past statements about Crimea."
Last edited by BFR - on 06 March 2024
