We’re used to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the war leader in his combat fatigues.
They were the ones that memorably earned him a dressing down from Donald Trump in the Oval Office last year.
But in his third speech to the UK parliament since the Russian invasion four years ago, we saw him suited and booted and playing the international salesman.
Politics latest: Zelenskyy says Ukrainians ‘know they can trust Britain’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy waves as Sir Keir Starmer greets him in Downing Street
He was dressed in a black shirt and buttoned up suit jacket for his meetings with the King, Sir Keir Starmer and then for his speech to MPs and peers.
Andy Burnham chic, sort of. And his sales pitch was championing Ukrainian drone technology, using an iPad which he brandished and boasted about during his speech.
So professional was the sales pitch that during his visit to parliament, Speaker’s Court, where government ministers’ limos park, was turned into a showroom, with half a dozen Ukrainian drones on display.
Alongside the salesmanship, perhaps the most remarkable part of his speech was how he linked the war in Ukraine with the current conflict in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s drone technology had a key role to play in defending western allies against attacks by Iran, he said. It could help defend RAF bases in Cyprus, he added.
Ukrainian interceptor drones could intercept Iranian-built missiles, which Russia also uses, for $10,000 – much cheaper than other ways of shooting them down.
Ukrainian drones were displayed outside parliament
Ukraine has sent teams of 200 anti-drone experts to the Middle East, he revealed, currently operating in the Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and heading to Kuwait.
For this reason, though he didn’t ignore the horrors inflicted on his country by Russia, this speech to the UK’s parliamentarians was rather more upbeat than the first two.
His first, in March 2022, just weeks after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, was delivered by video link during the COVID pandemic.
Speaking in his familiar dark green combat gear, through an interpreter, he evoked the spirit of Winston Churchill. “We will fight to the end,” he said.
“We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end at sea, in the air.”
That, of course, was the same Winston Churchill to whom Sir Keir was once again being compared so unfavourably by President Trump at the very moment Mr Zelenskyy was speaking to MPs.
By the time Mr Zelenskyy spoke in parliament a second time, in February 2023, Rishi Sunak had succeeded Boris Johnson as prime minister.
Speaking in 900-year-old Westminster Hall, he praised Britain’s support, with special mentions for “Boris”, who was watching, and “Rishi”. This time, there was praise and warmth for “Keir”.
He was speaking in parliament’s committee room 14, overlooking the River Thames and the scene of often-brutal showdowns between party leaders and backbenchers at packed meetings of the Tories’ 1922 Committee and the Parliamentary Labour Party.
But the mood now was very different. The session opened with a powerful welcome and tribute by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle who said: “Your country has shown incredible determination and ability in defending itself against the Russian aggression.
“But we cannot celebrate because we cannot forget.”
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Mr Zelenskyy ended by apologising for far exceeding his 20-minute speaking slot and again hailing his trusty iPad, which he claimed he gave to the King earlier.
He said the monarch asked if he had multiple iPads, but he said he only had one. So Charles had told him he would share it with the prime minister.
It was a joke President Zelenskyy would almost certainly not have made in his more gloomy previous speeches to the UK parliament.
