Mr. Zelensky Goes to Washington as a Winner

It was entirely fitting that Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy wore his battle fatigues to the White House on Wednesday. That's because the battle he is successfully leading against the Russian invaders who have attacked his country is being fought as much in Washington as it is along the front lines of the war.

Zelenskyy faced far greater personal risk when on Tuesday he wore his now signature khaki uniform to meet with his troops in Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk Province. But coming to Washington required a different kind of courage and a statesman’s skills—rather than those of the successful commander-in-chief he is now universally acknowledged to be.

Leaving Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s February escalation of its unjust onslaught against its neighbor was not without physical risks. But meeting with President Joe Biden in the White House and speaking to a joint session of Congress requires Zelenskyy to draw on his considerable communications skills, authenticity, charm, and hard won credibility in very different ways than how he’d utilize those talents during regular visits to meet with his army.