President Volodymyr Zelensky has been tethered to Ukrainian soil ever since Russia invaded his country nearly 10 months ago.
While he has given multiple speeches to foreign leaders and assemblies, they've all been via video conference, usually with the Ukrainian leader sitting in a nondescript, windowless room, clothed in his trademark olive-green military garb.
Now, Mr Zelensky has made his first trip abroad to Washington
While the attire was the same, the venue had all the regalia of American power.
In the run-up to war, Russia had tried to convince Ukrainians that the US was using their country as a geopolitical pawn
And that Americans would abandon them, as they did their Afghan allies.
Ten months and approximately $65bn in US aid later, US President Joe Biden and Mr Zelensky sat in the Oval Office, smiling and exchanging pleasantries, intent on proving those Russian insinuations had been - and would continue to be - false.