Message #41880

[mccoy]

I agree with Eric that Zelenski is sometimes obsessive with his requests, but....What would you do if your country were suddenly invaded by a multitude of tanks  from a neighbor superpower with the clear intent to sweep its legitimate government away and seat a puppet president?

Zelenski is doing his job, and he has done it in an unexpectedly successful way. But his main merit has not been to be an excellent communicator. His merit has been not to have been scared by Putin and his minions. They sent out Wagner Battalion agents to kill him and his family. Yet he remained in his country to lead it in difficult times. He was offered a ready and easy escape by America. He turned it down. Even though some may not like the character, he has been objectively a hero who inspired the strong resistance of Ukrainians.

I also believe that he used authoritarian ways, but, after the war was initiated, the manner could not have been very soft. After all, Ukrainians and Russian share the same ancestry.

Last but not least, we cannot blame Zelenski when Putin was the aggressor. We sure can wonder why the West has apparently favored escalation instead of diplomacy. This surprised even ex militaries. I don't have an answer to that.