FROM OUR REPORTER
KYIV – He shows his confidence in public, but is discouraged. The West’s support is waning and he is no longer the same. He no longer makes jokes to defuse tensions at crisis meetings at the top, he no longer has a full schedule of foreign appointments and his usual optimism has disappeared. “Now he comes in, listens to the updates, gives orders and leaves.”
He is the new Volodymyr Zelensky, as the American magazine Time writes. The cover is dedicated to him with the following title: “Nobody believes in our victory like I do.” of the Ukrainian president and described his nights with the fear of falling asleep and the intruders’ attempts to kill him. Even then, Time magazine dedicated the front page to him, but this report crowned the courage of a man who had the Western world on his page had.
Today, after more than twenty months of war, the story told is different. A different mood. Another international scenario. Shuster, the best-connected Western journalist in the presidential palace, can count on excellent internal sources. He doesn’t name names, but speaks of “a close associate” and “advisor” of the president, who report that Zelensky is “angry” with the allies because he feels “betrayed” because he has the feeling that he is doing what is necessary To survive, but not to end the war by winning it.
“One of the men closest to him,” as Shuster defines him, says that Zelensky’s absolute belief in victory is becoming “messianic.” “He’s kidding himself,” the same source would have added. “We won’t win, but you can’t tell them that.” The US magazine accompanied the Ukrainian president on his recent US visit. And here too: Shuster talks about a journey away from last year’s triumph. The consensus of American public opinion on new aid to Kiev has fallen to 41% (according to a Portal poll) from 65% in June: politicians cannot ignore this and Zelensky recognized the consequences during his trip. He captured the weariness of Western partners, to quote our Giorgia Meloni.
At the same time, Shuster says that in a closed session, Democrats “asked me what would happen if they didn’t send us help.” I replied that it would happen, we would lose. Zelenskyy again: “The most frightening thing is that part of the world has gotten used to the war in Ukraine.” War weariness is spreading like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they get a little tired, it becomes like a spectacle.” As if they had said all together: “I can’t watch this rerun for the tenth time.”
Added to this is the situation in the Middle East and the awareness that aid to Israel endangers aid to Ukraine. In short: a very discouraged Volodymyr Zelensky. No official comment from the presidency. Someone intervened on social media about the content of the report. One for all: Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to the Interior Ministry. “I see this article as a reminder to us,” he wrote on Telegram, “and an opinion on the situation from the perspective of foreign journalists.” For us Ukrainians, the situation has many more dimensions. No one can say with certainty how this war will end. The only thing that is certain is that there are three parties in the field: the Ukrainians, the Allies and Russia.”