www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/08/zelenskiys-skilful-uk-state-visit-is-key-move-in-keeping-ukraine-on-wests-mind
Do not forget Ukraine or this war in Europe.” Leadership is about visibility, as the Lords speaker, John McFall, told Zelenskiy.
So if the previous trip to the US had a purpose in stiffening the sinews of wavering Republicans, the visit to the UK was less about shoring up support. It was about gratitude, ceremony, and genuflection to the unique grit shown by Britain in the second world war, a theme of the more explicitly Churchillian speech he delivered in March by satellite.
The most substantive section of this speech was an evocation of how much was at stake in the war. The war was not just about Ukraine, Zelenskiy said, but changing the world and the threat to international legal order. Claiming Britain was “marching with us in a coalition of friends, and values”, he promised in the future there would be “no grey areas where human life does not matter”.
The war in Ukraine was not quite a war to end all wars since, he said, it was impossible to erase evil from human nature, but it would allow the better side of humanity to prevail. “After we win together, any aggressor, it doesn’t matter whether big or small, will knows what awaits him if he attacks international order … any aggressor is going to lose.”
But behind the rhetorical promises of a “new history”, the visit contained practical demands. Somehow avoiding sounding like an ungrateful Oliver Twist ever asking for more, Zelenskiy deftly asked for combat aircraft for Ukraine, or what he described as wings for freedom. In practice the UK does not have the aircraft Zelenskiy needs, but by announcing Britain will provide the training of Ukrainian pilots, the UK is preparing the way for Europe to offer planes.
He also spoke of the new coalition of long-range weapons striking deep in Russian occupied territory, the need to take Vladimir Putin to a war crimes tribunal, and the need for more effective sanctions.
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