The no-show of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after he had been scheduled to address the U.S. Senate on Dec. 5, has raised a few eyebrows. After all, he had made known his displeasure at not being allowed to address the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 21, when he was in the U.S. for the UN General Assembly debate. And, say what you want, he is not known for turning down an address to an audience. No reason was given at the time, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was left with no more than: “Something happened at the last minute.”
Yesterday, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov appeared on Fox News to explain that Zelenskyy’s no-show was due to the constantly changing war situation, reported Ukrainska Pravda. He remarked: “It’s a war, so the situation can change. But, I think, President Zelenskyyy would appreciate [speaking to the Senate] and do it whenever it would be possible next time.” No change in the past has kept Zelenskyy from such appearances, and whatever change occurred on Dec. 5 went apparently unnoticed by anyone.
Curiously, Zelenskyy did not miss his nightly video address to the country, posted two hours after his scheduled address to the Senate. There he spent 4.5 minutes explaining that he had talked with the Dutch Foreign Minister and that one of the “more emotional moments” of the day was giving free apartments to some “heroes of Ukraine.”
