Sean Penn has handed over his Oscar to Volodymyr Zelensky and says he can keep it ‘until Ukraine’s victory’.
The actor has told the Ukrainian President to bring the Oscar back to Malibu when Ukraine are victorious in the war with Russia.
The 62-year-old has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since war broke out back in February and had already travelled to Kyiv twice this year ahead of his most recent trip.
When he returned to the Ukrainian capital, he referred to Zelensky as his ‘great friend’.
He was seen taking one of his awards out of a bag and placing it on the Ukrainian president’s desk.
Sean said: “This is for you. It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then I’ll feel better and stronger for the fight… When you win, bring it back to Malibu. I’ll feel much better knowing a piece of me is here.”
Zelensky was flattered by the gift and accepted the Oscar statuette as he described it as a ‘great honour’.
He was then seen carefully placing the golden trophy on the mantelpiece in his presidential office.
Zelensky followed this up by presenting Sean with a Ukrainian Order of Merit to thank him ‘for his sincere support and significant contribution to the popularization of Ukraine in the world’.
Sean, who won a pair of Best Actor academy awards for his performances in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), is one of several US actors to have made the journey to Ukraine since the war began.
