There was a military honour guard in Downing Street to greet Ukraine's president, followed by a controlled photo opportunity showing the start of the meeting between the two men.
Crucially, as is common with most of Zelensky's visits to the UK, there will not be a full and open press conference where he and the prime minister will answer detailed questions at length.
In the House of Commons, at the start of his weekly question time, Burnham used the opportunity to offer what he called his "unwavering" support for Zelensky and promise greater military and financial aid in the future.
But it fell to the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, to ask the question journalists might have asked if they had the chance.
Sir Ed said the prime minister had studiously avoided commenting on Trump's decision to rip up international sanctions on Russia.
"This House does deserve to know his position, as does frankly President Zelensky and our brave Ukrainian allies," Sir Ed said.
"Doesn't he agree this is yet another shameful Trump betrayal of the Ukrainian people and European security?"
In reply, Burnham admitted it was a "very dark and difficult moment" for Zelensky, who was "carrying the heaviest of weights" right now.