War in Europe came to the chamber of the House of Commons

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, became the first ‘stranger’ to speak in the MPs’ chamber, writes John Rentoul

Usually, foreign leaders who are granted the honour of addressing parliament speak in Westminster Hall (AFP via Getty)

Volodymyr Zelensky made history, not by being the first “stranger” to speak in the Commons chamber, but by appealing directly to the UK parliament to step up its aid to an ally in a European war.

The echoes of past wars were unmistakable and quite deliberate. “We did not want this war,” the Ukrainian president told MPs. “We do not want to lose what is ours, our country, Ukraine, in just the same way you once didn’t want to lose your country when Nazis started to fight your country.”

Zelensky deliberately paraphrased Winston Churchill: “We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”