The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House, his dark military-style outfit drew scorn from US President Donald Trump, who wears suits every day.
Zelensky’s attire at that February meeting was featured in a disastrous session with Trump, in which the two leaders bickered and the Ukrainian president was escorted out of the White House early, without lunch.
On Monday, with his country facing pressure to accept a peace deal to end Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years, Zelensky showed up for his talks with Trump wearing more formal attire.
The black-on-black ensemble, sans tie, wasn’t exactly a suit, but it seemed to please Trump nonetheless.
A reporter who had asked Zelensky in February why he was not wearing a suit complimented the Ukrainian leader on the attire he chose for his latest Oval Office session with Trump.
“You look fabulous in that suit,” the reporter said.
Trump chimed in: “I said the same thing.”
This time, Zelensky got in a good-natured dig.
“You’re wearing the same suit,” he told the reporter, drawing laughter. “I changed.”
The media-savvy Ukrainian leader had worn military-type outfits to show solidarity with the troops fighting Russian invaders since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
But after the February meeting with Trump, Zelensky switched to a more formal wardrobe.
When the two leaders met at Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome in April, the Ukrainian president wore a heavy black field jacket and a black shirt buttoned to the collar, with no tie.
The negative focus on Zelensky’s attire at the White House was widely criticised at the time by Ukrainians, who have largely rallied around their leader since Moscow’s invasion.
Trump said on Monday that the US would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he and Zelenskiy began a hastily arranged White House meeting to discuss a path to peace.
But he also suggested to reporters that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed by Zelenskiy and most European leaders.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said, adding that European countries would be involved. “They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.”
Zelenskiy was also backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, who travelled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and push for strong security guarantees for the country in any post-war settlement.
Following their one-on-one discussion, Trump and Zelensky made a joint appearance with the European leaders ahead of planned multilateral talks.
Zelenskiy described the one-on-one discussion as “very good” and said they had spoken about the importance of US security guarantees for Ukraine.
“This is very important that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees,” Zelenskiy said.
Trump said he and Zelensky had covered “a lot of territory” during their discussion. He also again proposed a three-way summit among Putin, Zelensky and himself aimed at reaching a peace deal, which Zelenskiy said he would support.
