As historic and very successful characterized the speech of the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Wednesday evening in the US Congress, where many international media compare him to Winston Churchill, the elected and “father of Victory” during the Second World War.

International media in the US and beyond hailed the Ukrainian leader’s “passionate” and “persuasive” speech from the floor of Congress, which portrayed the country as a bastion of the free world, but in a way that avoided the Cold War and called for World War II. After all, exactly 81 years have passed since Winston Churchill’s corresponding visit to Washington in 1941, when the United States officially entered the war.

The press applauds how Mr. Zelensky chose to address MPs, not demanding or begging, but explaining the importance of continued support from the US and the West at large to his people in the midst of a Russian invasion, saying that Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but for Europe and the whole world. His rejection that aid to Ukraine is not a charity but an investment certainly resonated with his audience on Wednesday.

In doing so, according to international political observers, he has achieved what seems generally unlikely, namely the unification of deeply divided American lawmakers, even as Republicans still harbor doubts about the Democrats’ aid package to Kyiv.

According to French state network France 24, Mr. Zelensky is once again following in Mr. Churchill’s footsteps, as he has been in previous months, as the Russian offensive against his home country continues. Especially his reference to “we will never surrender”, echoing the British Prime Minister’s legendary World War II speech, really sent chills down the spines of those who heard him. And the appeal to the statement of the then American President Franklin Roosevelt about the victory of the American people moved even non-specialists in history.

The Churchill parallel was facilitated by outgoing U.S. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s mention that her father was present as an MP during the British Prime Minister’s historic address to Congress on December 26, 1941.

But most importantly, Mr. Zelensky managed to clearly win over the overwhelming majority of the American people and show the importance of the American offer of assistance to Ukraine in order to avoid a direct conflict between Washington and Moscow. .

The Guardian approvingly notes that “for the former actor and comedian, this was the performance of a lifetime”, as he was greeted by US MPs with applause, some of which carried Ukrainian flags and other insignia.

But CNN highlighted the importance of Mr. Zelensky’s decision to address lawmakers and US senators in their own language, without the use of an interpreter, which “brought the message closer to their hearts and to the hearts of the American people,” according to American Network.

Politico pointed to the rarity of foreign leaders speaking in the world’s most powerful legislature, noting that only Winston Churchill and Benjamin Netanyahu have addressed Congress more times than Mr. Zelensky.

Recall that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also personally spoke at the Congress this year. In the 2012-2021 decade, only nine foreign leaders spoke at a joint session of the US House of Representatives and Senate.

It also pointed out that Congress allowed Mr. Zelensky to violate protocol requiring speakers to wear a suit and the Ukrainian president to address MPs and senators in a signature khaki shirt.

According to CNN, The Guardian, Politico, France 24