United Kingdom, March 17 -- Sean Penn missed the Academy Awards with Sunday (15.03.26) because he was meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The 65-year-old star - who scooped his third Oscar for his supporting role in One Battle After Another at this weekend's ceremony - has been praised by the leader of war-torn Ukraine for being a "true friend" to the country amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.

Zelenskyy shared a photo on X of himself and Sean and wrote: "Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is. You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today. And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people."

In Sean's absence, last ye...