Joe & Jill Biden Welcome Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska At The White House

The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has touched down in the U.S. and was welcomed by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. Zelenska will be taking several meetings with U.S. officials over about the war in her nation and will also be making an address to Congress on Wednesday morning.

Biden presented Zelenska with a bouquet that had yellow sunflowers, blue hydrangeas and white orchids in it, to symbolize the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Zelenska has already had a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Met today with Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska to discuss the immense humanitarian costs of President Putin’s war. The United States remains committed to helping the people of Ukraine defend themselves from Russia, secure justice, and rebuild their country. pic.twitter.com/r4XuTKHPP7

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 19, 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine will be going into its sixth month in August. While speaking at the Victims of Communism Museum in Washington before her Biden meeting, she said, “Remember the darkest past can be easily beaten. In certain places, the darkness has never faded away. It just figured out how to operate more advanced weaponry and use social media. And so we’re not only fighting for our freedom today, we are fighting so that Stalin’s great terror will no longer be repeated anywhere, ever, in the civilized world.”