A year into the war, Ukraine's President Zelensky has hardened into a leader who believes victory is the only answer. The comedian turned president refused offers to be spirited away to safety and emerged as a far fiercer foe than Russia expected.
Not long after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, a year ago this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky found himself in a safe room beneath Kyiv’s government complex withAlexander Lukashenko, one of the Kremlin’s key allies, was inviting a delegation of officials to Minsk to negotiate an end to the war that Russia had launched just three days earlier, according to Andriy Sybiha, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, who was in the room for the call.
“Of course, we all have changed, including the president,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office. “The ordeals that have marked his tenure — they can’t but change a person. Has he become harder? Of course, he has. Has he become stronger? From my point of view, he was always strong.”
He derided Putin in an interview with Sky News last month. “Who is he now?” Zelensky asked. “After the full-scale invasion, for me he is nobody. Nobody.”Zelensky’s transformation became particularly apparent in September, when he stood in front of Ukraine’s government complex in his army-green T-shirt and fleece — the same day Putin “annexed” four regions in eastern Ukraine — and closed the door to any possible discussions with the Russian leader.
His style of management toughened to fit the circumstances of war. So did his positions toward both Russia and the West.David Arakhamia, the leader of Zelensky’s faction in parliament, said the Ukrainian leader had grown more cynical due to Russia’s perfidy“It often happens that they tell you, ‘We are for democracy’ and such and then do something with the Russians,” Arakhamia said. “I don’t want to name countries, but there are statistics. You can see who has what trade balance with them.
From satirical comedy to dancing and even voicing Paddington Bear, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had a pre-presidential career like few others. “But when it came to the details, when the exchanges started and they started to cheat, he already started to say, ‘They don’t seem to keep their word at all and most likely will lie,’” Arakhamia said. “The first changes in the relationship for him already started then.”As Putin and Zelensky sized up one another, views began to evolve.
Russia built up forces on Ukraine’s border in the spring of 2021 and rebuffed Kyiv’s calls for talks. “When they realized they couldn’t steamroll us, they went to the extreme and made this historically tragic mistake for everyone, including for Russia, and attacked us,” Yermak said.“Today I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said in a direct address to the Russian people he gave on the eve of the war. “The result was silence.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Joe Biden arrives in Kyiv for surprise trip as air raid sirens blareThe president was pictured alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in central Kyiv early Monday morning.
Read more »
Opinion | What a year of war has revealed of three leadersOpinion by David Ignatius: Putin underappreciated Ukrainian and U.S. resolve. It’s surprising how an 80-year-old president, who is garrulous, sentimental and sometimes senescent, turned out to be the most undervalued American leader in modern times.
Read more »
President Biden Visits with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in UkrainePresident Biden just made a surprise visit to Europe -- touching down in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... as we come up on a year of warfare.
Read more »
Photos: President Joe Biden visits Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in KyivThe “The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”
Read more »