Reports of the visit to Washington began circulating early this week, but it wasn't confirmed until early on Wednesday morning, when US officials felt certain that Ukraine's leader was safely en route to the US capital.
The visit had been discussed for months but the final preparations were made quickly - the two presidents spoke about it on 11 December and an invitation was extended to Mr Zelensky three days later. Only once the visit had been confirmed could final plans be put into action.
Unsurprisingly, no official information about the journey was released - security is tight around presidential visits even during peacetime, but for a wartime leader the risks are greater still.
With the threat of Russian missiles making air travel over Ukraine too risky, Mr Zelensky appears to have taken a secretive train ride through Ukraine to Poland, where he was spotted early on Wednesday at a railway station in the border town of Przemysl.
Pictures from Polish TV showed an entourage including Mr Zelensky walking along a platform with a blue-yellow Ukrainian train in the background. The group then got into a convoy of waiting cars, including black Chevrolet Suburbans - a favourite model of the US government.
Many Western leaders and officials have travelled by train to visit Mr Zelensky in Kyiv, but this was his first time abroad since Russia's war began.
[Zelensky’s visit to Washington — much like Churchill’s in December 1941 — came with his country under relentless attack and international aid essential to its ability to fight on.“Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender,” Zelensky told Congress, echoing one of Churchill’s most famous phrases and earning a standing ovation.
Zelensky earlier this year channeled Churchill in a video address to Britain’s House of Commons, pledging to “fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets”.
The United States has repeatedly said there are weapons it will not send to Ukraine to battle Russia’s invading forces. But as the last 10 months of war have shown, the limits of U.S. support have shifted in Ukraine’s favor, and Mr. Zelensky may yet get what he wants.
After his daring 10-hour dash to the nation’s capital on Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky left with nearly $2 billion in new arms and equipment — as well as a likely commitment from Congress for nearly $50 billion in additional aid next year.And while Mr. Zelensky did not get everything on his wish list, John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, said on Thursday that the United States was committed to providing the equipment that Ukraine needs, although he declined to provide specifics.
