All these heads of state wear what they wear at official ceremonies, whatever the occasion, in their own countries and abroad. This is their proper attire as heads of state. Before his country was invaded, Zelenskyy was wearing a suit. When his country is at peace again, he shall wear a suit again

So it sounds like you are contradicting yourself.

I do not think so. Official dress code is: The head of state wears an outfit that represents a dress of a powerful leader IN HIS/HER CULTURE. Only in WESTERN cultures (excluding the Vatican and royalty) that is the suit for males (for women, often a pants suit).

Where did you find that?

I found the wikipedia entry for formal luncheons with the interesting note: Visitors may wear national costume instead of evening dress. (see section 'state dinner' here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_v...

Yeah that says a whole lot of things that did not happen like meeting the visitor at Joint Base Andrews, red carpet, military honor guard, arrival fanfare, cannon volley at the WH, playing the national anthem of the visitor's country. And oh yeah not bullying your visitor.

The only thing I see about dress code is state dinners.

There seems to be a general 'dress code for diplomats', but I fear this is, again, geared to Western diplomats. www.ediplomat.com/nd/protocol/...

Can we return to our originial discussion? Your point was, if I read your images correctly, that Zelenskyy wasn't the only one refusing to wear a suit when on a state visit. Your examples, however, differ from Zelenskyys situation because they showed people wearing a national (or religious) attire.

That is all I wanted to point out. I still think Zelenskyy is doing te right thing by refusing to wear a suit - and he has a prominent predecessor in this, because Winston Churchill did the same when at war.

The essential thing seems to be that an attire is considered 'formal' and does not insult the sensitivities of the hosting nation. This becomes even more apparent if we look at the reverse situation: A western diplomart visiting a non-western state.

On official occasions (like state receptions) in most Arab countries, there is a definite dress code for males: robe, cloak, headscarf with cord. All Arab participants adhere to that. However, Western leaders visiting would not be required to wear the flowing robe and the headscarf.

But you keep talking about an official dress code. Who wrote it? Where is it?

The problem is that the dress code is determined for each and every occasion anew, involving the Office of the Chief of Protocol and the First Lady. As far as I understand this should mostly apply to social meetings and involve deciding between formal and semi-formal.

I could not find any specifics referring to foreign visitors and their attire on the White House protocol pages and their derivatives (but a mention not to steal the silverware, which I find hilarious). Most information seems to be geared to western visitors.