I sat in Churchill’s armchair and felt his bravery, says Volodymyr Zelensky
Churchill #Churchill
As he soaked in the applause of Britain’s political elite, a grinning Volodymyr Zelensky shyly raised his right arm aloft in the V for Victory pose.
The bashful tribute followed an impassioned speech during which he spoke from the heart about how our greatest wartime leader inspired his own steely resolve.
It was during his first visit to the UK in autumn 2020 that the Ukrainian leader was taken on a tour of the War Rooms deep under the Cabinet Office.
Having already been whisked around Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, he was likely in need of a sit down.
But the chair he was offered by an eager tour guide was rather special, for it was the one Churchill himself used during ministerial meetings.
The arms of the humble wooden seat are famously scratched from being gripped in tense moments – a feeling Mr Zelensky will know only too well.
Turning to Rishi Sunak during his speech, the Ukrainian president began: “I said to you that I will tell a story about my feelings on my first visit to London.
“There is an armchair in the War Room, the famous Churchill armchair. A guide smiled and offered to me to sit down on this armchair, from which war orders had been given.
“He asked me how did I feel? And I said that I certainly felt something. But it is only now that I know what the feeling was.
“And all Ukrainians know it perfectly well too. It is a feeling of how bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory.”
The remarks, met with rousing applause, came during a speech which warmed the spirits of the politicians and journalists packed into a chilly Westminster Hall.
As he stood bathed in coloured light streaming down from the 11th-century chamber, Mr Zelensky spoke of his fondness for English afternoon tea.
He recalled how he had enjoyed the traditional repast with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, during a meeting between the pair on that first visit.
And in a lightning-speed rhetorical turn that would give a Typhoon a run for its money, he turned that flattery into a call for UK fighter jets.
“Leaving the British Parliament two years ago I thanked you for delicious English tea,” he said, prompting a ripple of chuckles across the room.
“And I will be leaving today, thanking all of you in advance for powerful English planes,” he added, prompting a wave of applause.
Sir Lindsay spoke about how the Ukrainian president was the first head of state he met after taking over from John Bercow as the Commons Speaker.
The big Lancastrian recalled how the pair “hit it off immediately with much laughter over an English afternoon tea and, of course, Chorley cakes”.
“We forged an instant bond despite wearing masks and being socially distanced at the opposite ends of a large table,” he said.
“Little did we know that relationship would grow in such turbulent times.”
Sir Lindsay also referred to the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, which was won last year by Ukraine and will be hosted in Liverpool this year.
He quoted lyrics by Kyiv’s winning act, Kalush Orchestra, who sang that “I always find my way home even if all roads are destroyed”.
“Later this year the UK and Ukraine will be united in music but we will always be united in our unwavering belief in the power of democracy,” he added.
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