Ukraine first lady Olena Zelenska passed up an invitation from President Biden to come to Thursday’s State of the Union address, citing previously scheduled plans, but others say it may be because Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was also asked to appear.
Mrs. Zelenska was invited to sit with first lady Jill Biden during the speech, but said no. The request came as Congress fights over securing more money for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“Due to scheduled events, including a visit of children from an orphanage to Kyiv, which was planned in advance, the first lady will unfortunately not be able to attend the event,” Tetiana Haiduchenko, Mrs. Zelenska’s press secretary, told multiple outlets.
People familiar with Kyiv’s deliberations told The Washington Post that the possibility of Mrs. Navalnaya showing up didn’t sit well with the Ukrainians even though Alexei was a symbol of Russian rebellion. His ambiguous comments surrounding the true ownership of Crimea made his relationship with Ukrainians rocky.
Mrs. Navalnaya cited her husband’s death last month in a Russian prison as the reason for not going to Washington.
“Yulia was indeed invited and considered going, but I think everyone forgets the circumstances against which the events unfolded,” her spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, told The Post.
She added, “Yulia’s husband died two weeks ago. She’s been traveling all this time. Today is the first day she’s been home at all. Like any human being, she needs time to recover, and so while she very much appreciates the invitation, she needs to recover at least a little now.”
Mr. Biden met Mrs. Navalnaya and her daughter Dasha in San Francisco less than a week after Alexei’s death was made public.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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