Zelensky, whose career started in show business, pressed Hollywood for an appearance at the Oscars.

KYIV, Ukraine — He has spoken with two film stars by video name from the bombarded and encircled metropolis of Kyiv.

His aides lobbied the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences for an Oscar evening present of help. He rereleased his personal tv present on Netflix in the midst of the conflict.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor turned wartime chief of Ukraine, has devoted most of his public appearances to appeals to Western nations for deadly weaponry to battle the Russians: tanks, jets and missiles.

However Mr. Zelensky, who earlier than he turned president had starred in romantic comedies and carried out stand-up routines, has additionally pressed for celebrities and artists to talk up for his nation, in what aides say is a worthwhile effort to solidify Ukraine’s international comfortable energy benefit over Russia.

“We stay within the trendy world, and we all know that opinion makers and celebrities are essential,” stated Ekaterine Zguladze, a former deputy minister of inside now concerned within the Ukrainian authorities’s effort to win help from artists, musicians and celebrities. “Not solely politicians form the world.”

Ms. Zguladze added: “Proper now, there exists real solidarity world wide for Ukraine. And this solidarity will not be due to the heartbreaking photos of destroyed cities and human tragedy, however due to the values all of us share.”

However Ukraine’s enchantment to the academy, the group that awards the Oscars, encountered drama of its personal.

Earlier than the present, organizers stated the conflict can be famous and the human toll honored, however didn’t decide to a video look by Mr. Zelensky, stated Brian Keith Etheridge, a sitcom author based mostly in Los Angeles. He helped coordinate the Ukrainian authorities’s outreach to the academy, with assist from Mila Kunis, an actress of Ukrainian origin, and her husband, Ashton Kutcher.

“The priority that we have been instructed is, they don’t need to overly politicize the present,” Mr. Etheridge stated. “If Zelensky simply says ‘thanks’ it is going to remind folks, and it may elevate tens of millions of {dollars}. It’s such a large platform simply to have his face present up.”

Sean Penn, who had been filming a documentary in Ukraine when the conflict broke out, known as for a boycott of the Oscars if Mr. Zelensky will not be permitted to look by video and vowed to smelt his personal awards if the academy snubs the Ukrainian chief. The award statues are manufactured from gold-plated bronze.

If the Oscar producers didn’t enable an look for “the management in Ukraine, who’re taking bullets and bombs for us, together with the Ukrainian youngsters that they’re making an attempt to guard, then I believe each single a kind of folks, and each little bit of that call, can have been essentially the most obscene second in all of Hollywood historical past,” Mr. Penn instructed CNN in an interview.

Talking at a information convention on Thursday, the producers stated they meant to commemorate the conflict’s toll however didn’t decide to a video look by Mr. Zelensky.

“We’re going to be very considerate about how we acknowledge the place we’re on this planet,” Will Packer, a producer of the Oscar ceremony, stated Thursday at a information convention.

The comedic actress Wanda Sykes, one of many ceremony’s co-hosts, famous of Mr. Zelensky, “Isn’t he busy proper now?”

Mr. Zelensky didn’t seem on the present. Ms. Kunis did communicate in regards to the conflict when she appeared on the telecast to introduce a Reba McEntire efficiency of her music from Ms. Kunis’s film “4 Good Days.”

Earlier than turning the present over to Ms. McEntire, Ms. Kunis stated, “current international occasions have left many people feeling gutted.”

“But while you witness the energy and dignity of these dealing with such devastation, it’s unattainable to not be moved by their resilience,” Ms. Kunis continued. “One can’t assist however be in awe of those that discover energy to maintain combating by unimaginable darkness.”

The present additionally displayed three screens of gold textual content on black backgrounds after Ms. McEntire’s efficiency, calling on viewers to donate to the humanitarian effort.

“Whereas movie is a vital avenue for us to precise our humanity in occasions of battle, the truth is tens of millions of households in Ukraine want meals, medical care, clear water and emergency providers,” the message learn. “Assets are scarce, and we — collectively and as a world group — can do extra.”

Whereas Mr. Zelensky’s aides had pressed for help in the course of the present in no matter kind it takes, searching for any avenue to win public backing within the West, the worth of superstar help in a taking pictures conflict will not be universally acknowledged in Ukraine.

“Finally, it’s essential what is occurring on the bottom,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former secretary of Ukraine’s Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, stated. “All people is doing what they will. I don’t know if yet another speech of Zelensky will make a distinction. Nevertheless it’s good those that provoke it need to do it. All people needs to assist in any approach potential.”

However Mr. Danylyuk stated that “in the long run, you want outcomes,” like provides of fighter jets, tanks or missiles for the Ukrainian Military.

Mr. Zelensky has pressed on all fronts to convey to a broad viewers, and notably to nations which can be offering weaponry, the ethical crucial of supporting Ukraine within the conflict.

“Usually, Zelensky is admittedly following the information from Hollywood and searching for alternatives for help,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the president’s chief of employees, stated in an interview.

The push for backing for Ukraine in the course of the Oscars started per week in the past, after Mr. Zelensky spoke on a video name from Kyiv with Mr. Kutcher and Ms. Kunis, to thank the couple for elevating $35 million for Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian help in a GoFundMe marketing campaign, Mr. Leshchenko stated.

Ms. Kunis most not too long ago starred in “Breaking Information in Yuba County” and has a deliberate film launch by Netflix, “Luckiest Lady Alive.”

“Ukrainians are proud and courageous individuals who deserve our assist in their time of want,” she wrote within the fund-raising enchantment. “This unjust assault on Ukraine and humanity at massive is devastating and the Ukrainian folks want our help.”

After the video name, Mr. Zelensky’s aides sought a last-minute slot on the Oscar ceremony.

Mr. Zelensky has all the time had a eager sense of picture and storytelling in politics. Earlier this month, he stated he was conscious that his repeated televised appeals for resistance, and continued presence within the beleaguered capital, had turned him into a logo of bravery in lots of nations.

The Oscars are additionally a pure match for an enchantment by his authorities for humanitarian help, as lots of his prime aides are additionally film trade veterans.

The chief of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, was a media lawyer and film producer. The pinnacle of the home intelligence company, Ivan Bakanov, had been the director of the Kvartal 95 studio. A chief presidential adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was a screenwriter and producer whose main credit included successful romantic comedy movie, “Eight First Dates,” and a tv sequence, “The In-laws.”

Earlier than changing into president of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky performed a president in his personal tv sequence, “Servant of the Individuals,” which was rereleased on Netflix this month. The character, a trainer, is propelled to the presidency after he goes on a tirade in opposition to corruption, which is filmed by his college students in a video that goes viral.

Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, and Matt Stevens from New York.