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Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first girl, declined a White Home invitation to attend President Biden’s State of the Union tackle on Thursday, her workplace stated, citing a scheduling battle.
“Because of scheduled occasions, together with a go to of kids from an orphanage to Kyiv, which was deliberate prematurely, the primary girl will sadly not have the ability to attend the occasion,” Tetiana Haiduchenko, Ms. Zelenska’s press secretary, stated on Wednesday.
Yulia Navalnaya — the widow of the Russian opposition chief Alexei A. Navalny, who died in a Russian jail final month — was additionally invited to the tackle however is unable to attend, the White Home stated on Tuesday.
The invitation to Ms. Zelenska, and the truth that she was unable to make it, had been reported Tuesday night by The Washington Publish.
The White Home hoped to have each ladies on the speech as an indication of the combat for freedom and a present of resistance to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, based on an individual conversant in the planning for the tackle. Officers additionally believed that having each ladies there could be a strong image of how excessive the stakes are to these opposing additional assist to Ukraine.
Mr. Biden has been urgent Republicans in Congress to approve a $60 billion navy and monetary assist package deal for Ukraine, and he’s anticipated to make an enormous push for continued help in his tackle Thursday night time.
Going through setbacks on the battlefield, Ukraine has stated it urgently wants American navy assist to maintain up its protection.
Ms. Zelenska’s choice to not attend Mr. Biden’s speech contrasts with Kyiv’s traditional readiness to place representatives on the worldwide scene to rally help for the war-torn nation. She and her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky, have traveled extensively all over the world since Russia’s full-scale invasion started two years in the past, attending award ceremonies, diplomatic conferences and presidential inaugurations.
However latest journeys by Ukrainian officers to the US have yielded few outcomes. Mr. Zelensky left Washington empty-handed in December after assembly with Mr. Biden and Congress members whom he hoped to influence to unblock the a $60 billion assist package deal.
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting.
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