Volodymyr Zelenskyy is again in a throwdown with the president of the United States, this time over his refusal to obey a White House edict to stop bombing Russian oil refineries. So has the former comedian who rules Kyiv become the main barrier to peace, as both the Kremlin and now Donald Trump say? This is not, after all, the only trouble Ukraine’s leader is having.
He’s also in a diplomatic fight with South Korea and at loggerheads with his own country’s anti-corruption agencies, which are investigating some of his closest associates. Indeed, if it were not for the war, Zelenskyy likely would be long gone, voted out in a routine election. And yet the correct response to Trump telling Ukrainians they need to pick a new leader willing to strike a deal with the Kremlin is: Are you kidding?
Indeed, in the hierarchy of politicians responsible for the continuation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy ranks only third, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump himself.
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