First lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska arrives at the White House with President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska will not be attending U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Thursday because of a scheduling conflict, her spokesperson said. "The Embassy of Ukraine in the USA received an invitation for the First Lady of Ukraine to be present on March 7 during the Union address to Congress by the President of the United States," Tetyana Gaiduchenko said. There has been speculation that Zelenska declined the invitation on learning that Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, had also been invited to the prestigious event. The Washington Post reported that Navalnaya's potential presence was uncomfortable for the Ukrainians because of Navalny's past statements that Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, belonged to Russia.

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Persons: Ukraine Olena Zelenska, Volodymyr Zelensky, Olena Zelenska, Joe Biden's, Tetyana Gaiduchenko, Zelenska, Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny, Putin, Biden, Donald Trump, — Holly Ellyatt Organizations: White, USA, NBC, Washington Post, U.S, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Washington ,, Joe Biden's State, United States, Kyiv, Crimea, Russia