Volodymyr Zelensky was running late.
The invitation to his speech at the National Archives in Washington had gone out to several hundred guests, including congressional leaders and top officials from the Biden Administration. Billed as the main event of his visit in late September, it would give him a chance to inspire U.S. support against Russia with the kind of oratory the world has come to expect from Ukraine's wartime President. It did not go as planned.
That afternoon, Zelensky's meetings at the White House and the Pentagon delayed him by more than an hour, and when he finally arrived to begin his speech at 6:41 p.m., he looked distant and agitated. He relied on his wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska, to carry his message of resilience on the stage beside him, while his own delivery felt stilted, as though he wanted to get it over with. At one point, while handing out medals after the speech, he urged the organizer to hurry things along.
The reason, he later said, was the exhaustion he felt that night, not only from the demands of leadership during the war but also the persistent need to convince his allies that, with their help, Ukraine can win. "Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody," Zelensky told TIME in an interview after his trip. Instilling that belief in his allies, he said, "takes all your power, your energy. You understand? It takes so much of everything."
This story is from the November 20, 2023 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 20, 2023 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is reimagining the Olympics
When Paris kicks off the Olympic Games on July 26, it will be with athletes floating on an armada of boats down the Seine River, rather than marching in a stadium as it has always been.
TIME 100 HEALTH-TITANS
Last May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory about the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation-a departure from the type of standard medical conditions his predecessors prioritized.
TIME 100 HEALTH-CATALYSTS
It's been a long time since there was good news about Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative condition that affects more than 8 million people worldwide.
TIME 100 HEALTH-LEADERS
'Catastrophic.' -BASHAR MURAD ON THE HEALTH SITUATION IN GAZA
TIME 100 HEALTH-PIONEERS
In the wake of the pandemic, a new era emerges-marked by fresh discoveries, novel treatments, and global victories over disease. These are the most influential people in health in 2024
A Man in Full, adapted and redacted
TOM WOLFE'S A MAN IN FULL IS A MASSIVE BOOK, IN MORE ways than one. The 742-page social novel about a swaggering Atlanta real estate mogul, which took Wolfe over a decade to write, sold a jaw-dropping 1.4 million hardcover copies after its publication in 1998. The book's themes-money, power, race, masculinity--are just as grand.
The golden age of Ryan Gosling is upon us
IN DEREK CIANFRANCE'S 2010 LOVE-ON-THErocks heartbreaker Blue Valentine, Ryan Gosling plays a husband and father, Dean, who appears to be nothing but an annoyance to his wife, Michelle Williams' Cindy, a harried nurse.
A MARRIAGE OF FOOD AND FICTION
In the kitchen with Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
Greek Revival
PRIME MINISTER KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS IS DETERMINED TO MAKE GREECE THE COMEBACK STORY OF THE DECADE
HOLDING COURT
AT 20, DEFENDING U.S. OPEN CHAMPION COCO GAUFF IS MOVING INTO A NEW PHASE OF HER CAREER