Zelensky’s trip to the US leaves some unanswered questions

Both the fact and the fiction could be harder to maintain now, writes Mary Dejevsky

It remains to be seen whether Zelensky will receive all he came to Washington for (AFP via Getty)

I need ammunition, not a ride,” is how Ukraine’s president is said to have responded when the United States offered to evacuate him after Russia invaded his country. Ten months on, he accepted Washington’s renewed invitation, although in very different circumstances, and with a return, rather than a one-way, ticket.

That Volodymyr Zelensky, now a hardened and admired national war leader, decided to make his first known trip out of war-torn Ukraine now, and to make it to the seat of US power, conveyed many messages – some implicit, some spelt out in what Zelensky said – but it leaves some unanswered questions, too.

For a start, the visit was a huge statement of confidence, both in his own position and in the prospects for his country. This was not just a hop over the Polish border, or a day trip to London, but a long-haul journey across the Atlantic. There is no way that Zelensky would have left Ukraine for the best part of two days had he not believed that he would be safe to leave and return, and that his government and his country would be safe, too.