When Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington, the visit unfolded against an already shifting diplomatic backdrop. Earlier engagements in Ottawa had quietly reshaped the context in which his meetings with U.S. officials—including Donald Trump—would be interpreted. The significance of those moves lay less in immediate material commitments and more in how they framed Ukraine’s position within a wider network of support.
By first securing visible backing from Canada, Zelensky altered the optics of his Washington visit. Rather than approaching the United States as an isolated partner seeking bilateral relief, Ukraine arrived presented as part of a broader Western alignment. Canada’s role was not decisive in military terms, but it carried institutional and symbolic weight—reinforcing the idea that Ukraine’s security concerns were shared among allies rather than contingent on a single power broker. Continue reading…
