How hard it is to be Volodymyr Zelensky

Surprisingly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained a seemingly calm stance, in recent days, he has tried to calm the waters and reduce fears of a Russian invasion, even criticizing Western governments for the alarm raised.

Zelensky’s stance is in line with how he has managed tensions with Russia so far, but the last few hours have put him in a difficult position. He must balance the escalation of tensions even with Western allies who have invested time in finding a diplomatic consensus, but also military means of defending Ukraine.

If Russia really invades the country, Zelensky can be accused of minimizing the risk of a war and not doing enough to avoid it, as some of his critics already claim.

The cautious attitude of the Ukrainian president has appeared on several occasions in recent weeks. He equated border tension with other similar moments between Russia and Ukraine, without giving it a specificity or urgency.

Such a thing, Zelensky did when he said that the risk of a Russian invasion is equal to that of last April, when Russia gathered about 40,000 soldiers at the border and then withdrew them. He did so again when he equated the current threat in the border area with tensions that have continued between Russia and Ukraine since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Zelensky also criticized the heads of Western governments for their tones, according to him, quite unjustifiable and extremely alarming.

“I am the president of Ukraine, I live here and I think I know the situation better than any other president“, He said, referring to the concerns expressed by Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron about the deteriorating situation at the border.

Another case in which Zelensky tried to quell fears of a Russian invasion of the country was when he criticized the United States’ decision to evacuate family members of US embassy staff in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, considering such a decision to be excessive.

“Diplomats are like captains, they should be the last to abandon the ship that is in danger of sinking, but Ukraine is not the Titanic“, Ironically Zelensky.

There have also been other cases where the Ukrainian president has taken the possibility of a Russian invasion very seriously, such as when he criticized US President Joe Biden, when the latter said that NATO would not know how to responded to a “small attack” by Russia on Ukraine. Or even when he said that a war in Ukraine would not be just a war between Ukraine and Russia, but a “European war, a real war.” These statements, in a way, seemed to contradict his commitment to reduce the fear and tension created by the Russian occupation of the country.

Zelensky’s calmness has several reasons. In part, as he himself said, the prospect of an imminent war risks destabilizing the country’s economy and domestic politics, for which he has every interest in keeping them intact. As the Wall Street Journal explained, “Olympic calm” is a very specific strategy, adopted by Zelensky, with the support of his closest advisers.

In general, however, Zelensky is handling the threat of a Russian invasion as he has always tried to do so, carefully and avoiding frontal clashes as much as necessary. Zelensky is 44 years old, the seventh president to lead the country since independence from the Soviet Union. One of his main promises, along with rooting out corruption, was to find a diplomatic solution to reduce tensions with Russia, achieving the signing of a peace deal with Putin, without the need to go to war.

In his first speech as president, Zelensky told the country’s citizens that he “would do everything possible to achieve peace with Russia,” a phrase that became a motto, sharply reprimanding his main opponent. , Petro Poroshenko, the former president of the country, who lost the election because of his bad relations with Russia.

However, things did not go so well, Zelensky came to realize that the agreement with Putin was not so simple and gradually took more repressed positions, due to the criticism received from within, especially from those who accuse him of a submissive attitude towards Russia.

A turning point, where relations between Russia and Ukraine deteriorated even further, came especially with the administration of Joe Biden, who stated that it was ready to oppose Russian expansionism and promised US support to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukrainian.

All of these changes may have persuaded Putin to act before the current, generally still pro-Russian, status quo changed. Some of his former aides, commented by the Wall Street Journal, said Zelensky still hopes to be able to find a language of consensus with Russia to sign a peace deal. His cautious and seemingly calm stance could serve to show that he has no desire to deal with Russia as an enemy and consequently not to influence the further escalation of tensions.

However, given the level of tensions, Zelensky’s position is dangerous, especially given the protests in the past because of his stance on Russia, as it was considered a very incompatible stance. While in recent weeks his opponents and critics, especially Poroshenko, have accused him of taking the threat of a Russian invasion very little, by not taking the necessary measures to defend the country.

There are also those who appreciate Zelensky’s calmness and believe that he is managing a very delicate situation with such competence and determination, without giving in to panic. But if Putin continued with an invasion of the country, Zelensky would risk everything, and in addition to the problems associated with managing an armed conflict, he would lose his credibility with the people and not only, but also with his allies. Westerners, underestimating the risk of a second Russian invasion within a decade.

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