WP claims Zelenska declined White House's invitation because of Navalnaya, President's Office denies

The Washington Post has written that Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska declined the White House's invitation to participate in the US President's address to the Congress because they wanted her to sit next to Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in a Russian prison. The Office of the President of Ukraine countered, saying that she declined for a different reason.

Source: The Washington Post; the Office of the President in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from WP: "Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, declined an invitation from the White House to attend Thursday’s State of the Union address, forgoing one of Washington’s most dignified events and underscoring the complicated politics facing her war-torn country." 

Details: Officials familiar with the plans said that American First Lady Jill Biden was to be seated next to Olena Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya. The image of the two women, each a symbol of resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was supposed to be a powerful backdrop for President Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress.

But people familiar with the discussions in Kyiv said that Navalnaya's potential presence has made Ukrainians uncomfortable, in particular due to Navalny's past statements about Crimea.

WP notes that a White House spokesperson said Zelenska's decision was likely due to "schedule conflicts" and referred further questions to Zelenska's office, which, as the newspaper stated, did not respond to a request for comment. 

At the same time, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda, the President's Office agreed that the reason was "overlapping schedules".

"The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States has indeed recently received an invitation for the First Lady of Ukraine to attend the US President's speech in Congress on 7 March. However, due to events added to the schedule earlier, including a visit to Kyiv by orphans, unfortunately, the first lady will not be able to attend," the Office of the President said.

WP writes that Navalnaya also refused to attend Biden's speech. Navalnaya's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, explained that this was due to her fatigue and need to "recover" after the death of her husband and the travelling she has been doing recently.

One US official said that the White House probably did not inform Kyiv that Navalnaya had decided not to attend, although her presence was not the only issue for Ukrainians.

Another problem for Kyiv, which is seeking additional security assistance from the US, is reportedly its close relationship with Biden. The US president has been Ukraine's main defender, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to avoid further politicising the war effort.

The newspaper writes that Ukraine is now desperately lobbying Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote in favour of Biden's request for US$60 billion in aid, a package that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opposes. WP notes that Ukraine is running out of artillery and beginning to lose strategic cities along the front line.

By urging lawmakers to support financial aid, Ukraine does not want to offend Republicans, who may control the White House next year depending on the outcome of the November elections.

A White House spokesman said that in his speech on Thursday, Biden would urge House Republicans to pass a decision on funding for Ukraine "as soon as possible". 

The publication reiterates that every year, the US First Lady invites a number of people to join her during the President's State of the Union speech, and the president often mentions them in his speech when highlighting or promoting a particular policy or issue.

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