When London meets in the grandiose Westminster Hall, it is never trivial. The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was exhibited there last September, and a handful of foreign leaders have spoken there, such as Charles de Gaulle in 1960. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, warlord, is now part of this short list.
On a surprise visit to London, before heading to Paris this Wednesday evening and Brussels tomorrow, the Ukrainian president was welcomed at Stansted airport by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, before speaking to the two combined chambers of the British Parliament in Westminister Hall, for a nearly half-hour speech in his traditional khaki ensemble. 20 minutes save you the highlights.
Thank you for the alliance and the tea
Throughout his speech, Volodymyr Zelensky kept repeating one word: “Thank you”. The Ukrainian president praised the “courage” of British parliamentarians and the government, stressing that the United Kingdom had been “one of the first countries” to offer its support to kyiv “from the first hours” of the Russian invasion. He also had a special word for Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister who resigned this summer but had been very involved in British support, going to Ukraine himself.
Weaving the link and the parallel between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that the two countries had “thwarted the horrors of war and reaped the fruits of peace” after the Second World War and the fall of the USSR, while insisting on “coalition building”. A theme of friendship and gratitude that the Ukrainian president cultivated until the end of his speech, which he ended by recalling having left London two years ago, saying “thank you for the delicious English tea” , and “thanking in advance for the powerful British planes”.
“Wings for Freedom”
Because this is what the warlord came to seek from his allies. After having finally obtained heavy and recent tanks, Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for fighter planes for several days, and reiterated his request by setting foot in London. “We have freedom, give us wings to protect it,” reads the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot that the Ukrainian president presented to parliament.
“We need modern planes to protect our pilots who protect us”, he insisted, comparing the sky aces to Ukrainian “kings”, drawing a parallel with King Charles III, himself a former pilot . “I ask you and the world for simple but very important words: fighter jets for Ukraine, wings for freedom,” he said. If Rishi Sunak indicated that the “long-term” possibility of delivering planes would be studied, London has already committed in the morning to train pilots on “sophisticated combat planes meeting NATO standards”.
“Russia will lose”
Determined, Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that with the coalition which supports Ukraine, the victory was certain. But “every day that separates us from victory, we pay for it with deaths, with tears”, an additional argument for asking for planes. “The most important thing is that with the G7, we have created a coalition of values based on the international order,” insisted the Ukrainian president.
Volodymyr Zelensky thus sketched out the idea of a “great international coalition”, which does not include Russia and the other “terrorist” states. “We know that freedom will win, we know that Russia will lose,” he said, describing a Ukrainian victory as “a victory against the very idea of war”, which will discourage “any what an aggressor” in the world. Still in parallel with the Second World War, the Ukrainian president also repeated a regular request: the creation of a special tribunal to try Russian officials.