A packed house at the Grand America Hotel gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a standing ovation Friday morning as he addressed the National Governors Association summer meeting. The Ukrainian leader arrived in Salt Lake City fresh from the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D.C.
“This is one of the most transparent battles between good and evil in our time,” Zelenskyy said of Russian’s invasion of his country that began in 2022. “It’s clear that Ukraine has done nothing wrong before God, and all the pain our country suffers is only the result of Russia’s criminal actions.”
“So many people and countries have united to help us save our freedom and thus the common human understanding that evil must always, always lose,” he said to applause.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Utah and Kyiv Oblast at the National Governors Association’s summer meeting in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 12, 2024. Ukranian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova.
Continuing financial support for Ukraine has become a political football in American politics, with many Republicans worrying that the conflict could spiral out of control and force the United States to intervene militarily.
“I have said many times that we do not ask the United States and other partners to fight for us. We do not ask for your boots on the ground. The only thing we ask for is sufficient support, air defense systems for our cities, weapons for our men and women on the front line. Support for in protecting normal life and rebuilding,” Zelenskyy said. “This is all we need to withstand and drive Russia from our land.”
Ahead of Zelenskyy’s address, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox scolded his fellow Republicans opposed to providing more military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to repel the Russian invasion. Cox said it’s important to spend American taxpayer money wisely, but helping Ukraine is a wise investment.
“I think there is still evil in this world, and that evil is on the march right now. That evil feels emboldened, and it’s up to good people everywhere,” the governor said Friday morning. “This is what America does best. It’s what we did best in World War I and World War II. I’m grateful we are able to slow down and stop evil without risking the blood of our people.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox and Ukranian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova stand with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Utah and Kyiv Oblast at the National Governors Association’s summer meeting in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Utah for the National Governors Association’s summer meeting came together quickly.
“We found out that President Zelenskyy is going to be speaking at the NATO summit, and it’s the same week as the National Governors Association. I wonder if we could see if he could swing by,” Gov. Spencer Cox, the outgoing chair of the NHGA, joked.
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are. This is not one of those times,” Cox said as he introduced Zelenskyy, which brought a raucous standing ovation from the crowd.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the National Governors Association’s summer meeting in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 12, 2024.
During his brief 10-minute address, Zelenskyy took time to address the news that a Russian cruise missile hit the largest children’s hospital in Kyiv, the latest hardship the war has inflicted on the children of his nation.
“This could not have been a coincidence. Children. Children, who with the help of doctors are trying to overcome terrible, terrible diseases such as cancer and heart diseases, found themselves on the street amidst ruins. Some were buried under the debris,” Zelenskyy said.
He added, “Cancer does not wait for the Russians to stop bombing our cities. Children need treatment. Need it now. Children also need to go to school, and their parents need to feel at least basic safety to be able to work and provide for their families.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Julia Danlyuk stands outside the Grand America Hotel with other supporters, hoping get a glimpse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his speech at the National Governor's Association, on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Following his address, Zelenskyy met with Cox and legislative leaders to sign a memo of understanding between Utah and the province surrounding Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv. The agreement will help Cox’s administration connect businesses with counterparts in Ukraine to encourage trade relations.
Senate President Stuart Adams, who led a Utah delegation to Ukraine in 2023, echoed Cox’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia on Friday.
“I never thought in my lifetime I would see tanks going across from one of three world powers into another country unprovoked — and then to sit in Bucha and see the trench that’s been dug, the women and children who were killed in the streets then dumped in the trench and buried again,” Adams said. “What’s happening there is a fight against good and evil. America will always stand for good against evil.”
That sentiment is not uniformly held among Utah Republicans. Just this week, Sen. Mike Lee argued that the United States should withdraw from NATO if Ukraine is admitted.
“If Ukraine is in NATO, the United States should be out, plain and simple.,” Lee wrote in an opinion piece for The American Conservative. “We must draw a redline with NATO: You can have Ukraine or the United States.”
Cox danced around the question when asked if he agreed with Lee’s stance on American withdrawal from NATO if Ukraine is admitted, calling it a “really important question.”
Zelenskyy is the highest-profile head of state, aside from U.S. Presidents, to visit Utah since a parade of world leaders came to Utah for the 2002 Winter Olympics.