Volodymyr Zelensky did not come empty-handed to Westminster Hall, Britain’s oldest building. He arrived with a hatbox containing the helmet of a Ukrainian Air Force ace. Although he did not identify the pilot, the Ukrainian president’s message to British parliamentarians — and to his Western allies in general — was clear: give me fighter jets and I’ll end the war.
After being given a standing ovation by MPs and Lords, the former comedian touched the heartstrings of the British by evoking the “so few” pilots who defend his Ukrainian skies against the Russian invasion. Decades before him, Prime Minister Winston Churchill also praised the “few” Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots who saved Britain from Nazi invasion in the summer of 1940.
Behind him, lit by a winter sun, was a huge stained glass window in tribute to the members of Parliament who lost their lives during the Second World War.
In March, the president had already addressed the British Parliament, two weeks after the start of the Russian attack. But it was by video link. This time, he was present in London, for a surprise visit that remained secret for security reasons. This is only his second trip abroad since the start of the war; the first was in December in Washington.
President Zelensky recalled his last visit to the British Parliament two years ago. At that time, in peacetime, “I thanked you for the delicious tea.” And today, he said, “I will leave Parliament thanking you in advance for the powerful English planes”, “wings for peace”.
The applause of the public, about 2000 people, about the planes was more discreet than for the rest of the speech. Because if support for Ukraine does not arouse any debate in the British political class, there is a deep ambivalence, as in other Western capitals, at the idea of being drawn further into the war. However, the head of the British Conservative government Rishi Sunak said after President Zelensky’s speech that he had asked the army to study possible aircraft deliveries, while warning that it could only be “a long-term solution”.
De Gaulle, Mandela and Obama
Few heads of state have been invited to address a joint session of Parliament in the grand setting of Westminster Hall. Charles de Gaulle in 1960, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama are among those who have had this honor.
Before leaving the historic hall, whose construction began in 1097, to be received by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, Volodymyr Zelensky was warmly greeted by Rishi Sunak, his predecessor Boris Johnson, to whom the Ukrainian President paid tribute in his speech, and the Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer.
The Ukrainian president had a long talk with the latter, probably knowing that he could win against Mr Sunak in the next UK election, if the polls are correct.