Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a virtual appearance at the 80th Golden Globes
(Picture: NBC)Volodymyr Zelensky sent a video message to the Golden Globes to thank his allies in the “free world” and said there would be “no third world war”.
The Ukrainian president told the Hollywood crowd on Tuesday night that the “war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning, and it is already clear who will win,” to some applause.
He was introduced by Oscar-winner Sean Penn, who previously met with Zelensky in Kyiv and gifted him one of his Academy Awards, asking the president to return it when the war ends.
“There are still battles and tears ahead,” Zelensky said in a recorded message. “But now I can tell you who was the best in the previous year – you in the free world, who united around support of free Ukrainian people.”
Zelensky recalled the Golden Globes of the early 1940s, before World War II had ended.
He said Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion symbolizes “the struggle for the right of the new generations to know about the war only from movies.”
“The First World War claimed millions of lives. The Second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third World War. It is not a trilogy,” Zelensky said, promising Ukraine “will stop the Russian aggression” with the help of the free world.
Zelensky has previously appeared virtually at the Cannes Film Festival and the Grammy Awards to discuss the ongoing conflict and thank those in the entertainment industry who’ve raised awareness of it.
“From the other worldly courage of young Iranians rising up, to the ever-persevering women’s movement of Afghanistan, we are reminded, in no uncertain terms, that the freedom to dream is not simply a human luxury, but rather a human need that must be fought and sacrificed for,” said Sean Penn.
“If the freedom to dream were a spear, I proudly present a human being who tonight represents that spear’s most honed tip,” Penn said of Zelensky.
