Photo of Zelenskyy wearing a suit when meeting WEF leader predates Ukraine war

A photo of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the World Economic Forum (WEF) founder, Klaus Schwab, is being shared with claims it shows him wearing a suit for his “actual boss”. 

This comes after recent criticism President Zelenskyy faced for not wearing a suit to meet with US President Donald Trump last month. The post suggests President Zelenskyy recently wore one to meet Mr Schwab, but not Mr Trump. 

But this is missing important context. Mr Zelenskyy does not appear to have worn a suit in public since the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022—he shared a video that day in which he wore a suit—but the photo with Mr Schwab predates this. 

The photo circulating online shows Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Schwab both in suits, and shaking hands in front of a backdrop featuring the WEF logo. It has been captioned: “The only time Zelensky will wear a suit is when he meets his actual Boss!” 

But this is not a recent photo. It shows Mr Zelenskyy at the WEF Annual Meeting in January 2020, which was two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A spokesperson for Mr Zelenskyy’s office told reporters at Reuters that after the invasion began, the president had not worn a suit for meetings, negotiations or official visits to other countries. 

There are many other photos showing Mr Zelenskyy wearing a suit with world leaders—not exclusively Mr Schwab—before the war began, including to meet Mr Trump in 2019. Since the Russian invasion, Mr Zelenskyy has been seen wearing more militaristic, dressed-down attire, including sweatshirts that often feature the Ukrainian trident symbol.

In an interview with the BBC in February 2023, Mr Zelenskyy said about his decision to stop wearing suits: “It was more comfortable and more understandable for people. Because it’s a war. And it's very strange when it’s a war and you’re in a suit.”. 

In response to a question from a US journalist at the recent meeting in Washington, Mr Zelenskyy said: “I will wear costume after this war will finish,” (a Ukrainian word for “suit” is “kostyum”). 

It’s not exactly clear what the post means about Mr Schwab being Mr Zelenskyy’s “actual boss”, but we could find no evidence to support this. Mr Schwab and the WEF have been the subject of a lot of misinformation we’ve written about before, including the false claim that the organisation plans to end national sovereignty. 

You can find more of our work checking claims relating to the war in Ukraine on our website, including an explainer on the recent peace talks.