War in Europe brought to parliament by a ‘stranger'

Volodymyr Zelensky made history, not by being the first “stranger” to speak in the Commons chamber, but by appealing directly to the UK parliament to step up its aid to an ally in a European war.

- JOHN RENTOUL

The echoes of past wars were unmistakable and quite deliberate. “We did not want this war,” the Ukrainian president told MPs. “We do not want to lose what is ours, our country, Ukraine, in just the same way you once didn’t want to lose your country when Nazis started to fight your country.”

Zelensky deliberately paraphrased Winston Churchill: “We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”

He quoted William Shakespeare, saying Ukraine has decided “to be”. And he appealed personally to Boris Johnson, his fellow admirer of both Churchill and Shakespeare: “I am very grateful to you, Boris. Please make sure our Ukrainian skies are safe. Please make sure you do what needs to be done, and what is demanded by the greatness of your country.”