MOSCOW, May 14. Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko said that he himself turned to the organizers of Eurovision with a request for an online performance by Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not present aware of the request, according to the British edition of the Guardian.
Earlier, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) told the Ukrainian publication Suspilne (Public) that the request for Zelensky's online performance at Eurovision came from the Ukrainian government.
«Tkachenko said he applied last Saturday to allow Zelensky to speak at the final, but was denied by email two days later,» the newspaper, which interviewed the minister, said in a statement.
According to Tkachenko, there was no «official request» from Zelensky. The day before the Eurovision final, he did not know about Tkachenko's request.
The winner of Eurovision 2023, held in Liverpool, was the Swedish singer Loreen, according to the total results of the audience voting and the jury, Sweden received 583 points. In second place is Finnish singer Kyaarija with 526 points, and in third is Israeli singer Noah Kirel with 362 points.