Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska Makes High-Profile US Trip

On Monday, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, beginning her series of high-profile appearances in Washington, including a meeting with First Lady of the United States Jill Biden.

While Zelenska met with Blinken, which is her first announced event in the US, the blue and yellow Ukrainian flags flew alongside American ones on Pennsylvania Avenue. Blinken praised her work of dealing with the trauma and other damages caused by the war with the civilians.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Secretary of State assured Zelenska of the United States’ commitment to Ukraine. Zelenska also met with President of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, whose agency has provided billions of dollars to support the government of Ukraine and its humanitarian needs. The agency is working to alleviate global food shortages exacerbated by Russia’s war.

Since Putin attacked Ukraine in February, Zelenskyy remained in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, winning the admiration of Ukrainians and Ukraine supporters abroad.

In an interview this month, Zelenska described from the first hours of Russia’s bombing, that the war forced her to stay away from Zelenskyy for security reasons. Since then, their children, like other Ukrainians, have largely seen Zelenskyy in nightly video speeches he produced for the country.

Zelenska walked out from solitude on May 8th to welcome Jill Biden, who was on an unannounced visit to western Ukraine. The two first ladies met at a school at the time, where they hugged, talked, and made tissue paper bears with elementary school students as gifts for Mother’s Day.