One analyst puts it this way: “He refuses to say he’ll investigate the Bidens, the Republicans are mad at him. He says he will, the Democrats are mad at him.” Zelensky needs the support of the United States at large.
I think of a phrase: “monkey in the middle.” Later, I see a Time magazine cover: “The Man in the Middle.” That’s how the magazine describes Zelensky. He is “caught between Putin and Trump,” Time says.
Oh, yes: That too.
Some people here joke that Zelensky is “Monica” — the unfortunate figure in an American impeachment drama.
In any case, Zelensky is very keen not to be ensnared in the American drama, as is Ukraine itself. Every time Zelensky opens his mouth, on the subject of America, he risks offending someone.
“Trump applied no pressure,” he might say (as he has). Then the Democrats will be ticked, except for the understanding ones. “Trump applied pressure,” he might admit. Then the Republicans will be ticked.
Can’t win.
...
• The subject of corruption in Ukraine is an interesting and multifaceted one, written about at length. I will not spend long on it. I recommend
this article, in
Foreign Policy, by Adrian Karatnycky and Alexander J. Motyl. The former is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a onetime president of Freedom House, and the latter is a political-science professor at Rutgers.
Bottom line: Ukraine has made headway against corruption in recent years, and gratifying headway. Efforts to paint it as a “corrupt failed state” are corrupt themselves — dishonest and dishonorable.
• In my experience, people either make too much of Putin and the machinations of the Kremlin or too little of them. I have a feeling that the second error may be the more common one.
One prominent lady in Kyiv tells me that Westerners are hopelessly, dismayingly “naïve” about Putin and the Kremlin. They are especially naïve about the money that Russia spreads around. It buys a lot.
Ukraine Journal: President Zelensky and His Country Are Both in a Precarious Position | National Review
