Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, declined an invitation from the White House to attend Thursday’s State of the Union address, APA reports citing The Washington Post.
It was noted that the intent had been to seat first lady of U.S. Jill Biden near Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in an Arctic prison, according to officials familiar with the planning.
A White House official said Zelenska’s decision was probably due to “schedule conflicts,” and referred further questions to Zelenska’s office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The official added that the seating arrangement was not finalized until recently.
Navalnaya also declined to attend Biden’s address, according her spokeswoman, who cited fatigue as a factor.
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