Volodymyr Zelensky’s security team pounced on some chocolate offered to him by Bear Grylls over fears the survival expert could have been trying to poison the Ukrainian president.
Grylls offered Mr Zelensky a square of Cadburys to “break the ice” during their first meeting on a trip to Ukraine to film a new documentary – but the president’s security team were not pleased.
They refused the offering in case Grylls, 48, was trying to assassinate Mr Zelensky.
“I get it,” Grylls told Good Morning Britain on Monday as he discussed his new Channel 4 documentary ‘Bear Grylls Meets President Zelensky’.
“Normally when I’ve done this before with world leaders, the wild does half my job for me – it’s a great leveller. It’s a great ice-breaker – you’re out in the mountains.”
Grylls has shared food with other world leaders, including bits of salmon caught by a bear with former US president Barack Obama in Alaska’s wilderness.
During his visit to Ukraine, Grylls witnessed the destruction brought by Russia’s invasion and met Ukrainians whose lives had been changed forever.
Grylls said that “the goal really with this show is to get to know the real guy behind the podium, actually what he [Mr Zelensky] is like as a man” and learn how Ukraine is surviving its war.
Mr Zelensky and Grylls discussed alleged Russian war crimes, including sexual violence and the forced deportation of children.
The Ukrainian president said, however, that the war had taught him that people from different countries share the same values, including “love for their children”.
Since the beginning of the war, Mr Zelensky has been separated from his family, something he said has been difficult on his nine-year-old son, who wears a soldier’s uniform every day.
Grylls described Mr Zelensky as “really humble, down to earth and totally focused” – but said that travelling to his secret bunker was an experience out of a “Bond film”.
“Everyone I met in Ukraine, even if I said ‘what do you think of Zelensky?’ and they go: ‘whatever I thought before is irrelevant, whether I liked him or not. The whole country’s together and we’re all behind him’.”
He went on to draw comparisons between the Ukrainian president and Winston Churchill, with Grylls saying Mr Zelensky has the same sense of “destiny” as Britain’s wartime leader.
“He says – like all of Ukraine – we’ve put everything on hold: our life, our ambitions, our family, our work, our futures, our dreams, everything. For one purpose: to defend our country. There’s power to that.”
Celebrity visits
Several celebrities have travelled to Kyiv since the invasion to meet Mr Zelensky and show their support for Ukraine.
On Monday, Pirates Of The Caribbean star and Unicef ambassador Orlando Bloom made the trip.
The actor praised the “incredible stoic nature” of Ukraine’s people and encouraged Mr Zelensky to “go win” the war.
He told Mr Zelensky that it was “remarkable to see how you are holding this country” and reassured him that Unicef is taking the issue of missing children “incredibly seriously, just as the rest of the world is watching”.
Mr Zelensky replied that “we have a good country, we hold each other”, adding that Bloom’s visit “sends a big message”.
“Go win,” Bloom concluded, “Slava Ukraine”.
Bloom shared a clip of the meeting on Instagram, writing: “The war is destroying the childhood of Ukrainian children.
“Thousands of schools in Ukraine have been damaged or completely destroyed. Almost 2.7 million Ukrainian schoolchildren are forced to study online or in a mixed format.
“About 1.5m Ukrainian boys and girls are at risk of developing depression, anxiety and other psychological problems.”
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