Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared for his high-profile meeting with US President Donald Trump Monday wearing a black jacket, but stopped short of wearing a full suit and tie.
Earlier, a European official told CNN that Zelenskyy’s choice of attire had been a topic of conversation between US and Ukrainian officials ahead of Monday’s talks at the White House.
The official said the Trump administration had suggested that Zelenskyy should not arrive wearing his usual military attire.
Zelenskyy’s attire became a lightning rod during his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Trump in February.
When he welcomed the Ukrainian leader to the White House, Trump sarcastically quipped, “He’s all dressed up today.”
Trump reportedly said, “I don’t believe it, I love it.”
During that meeting, a reporter asked Zelenskyy: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit. Do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office,” according to the BBC.
Zelenskyy told the reporter what he has said since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022: that he will wear his military garb until there is peace in Ukraine.
Treading a middle path between a full suit and his usual attire, Zelenskyy arrived at the White House on Monday wearing a black shirt and black jacket.
It appeared to be the same, more formal outfit he wore to the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican in April, and to the NATO summit in the Netherlands in June.
Earlier, the White House had inquired whether Zelenskyy planned to wear a suit for the Oval Office meeting, which will also include several European leaders.
Zelenskyy headed to a high-stakes meeting with Trump on Monday, backed by a phalanx of European leaders, in hopes of bridging a growing gulf with his US counterpart on a peace deal with Russia.
Trump is pushing Ukraine to make major concessions following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, saying Kyiv must give up Crimea and abandon its NATO ambitions. Those are two of Moscow’s top demands.
But Zelenskyy, who huddled with the Europeans before they all went to the White House to meet Trump, urged Trump to bring “peace through strength” against Russia and stressed the need for US security guarantees.
Trump and Zelenskyy will first meet one-on-one in the Oval Office — with all eyes on whether there will be a repeat of the astonishing scenes in February when the US President and his deputy J.D. Vance publicly berated the Ukrainian.
Trump, 79, said it was a “big day at the White House” and appeared to be in a combative mood, churning out a string of social media posts.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” the US President said on his Truth Social network.
“And I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them.”
Trump will later meet separately with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as NATO Chief Mark Rutte and European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen.
IANS
