After the Russian attack, the President of Ukraine became an icon of the struggle for freedom in the eyes of the West. Zelensky has won sympathy for his emotionality and straightforwardness.
“I need weapons, not evacuation” – I need ammunition, not a rider – these are the words of Vladimir Zelensky, who allegedly spoke to the US leadership in response to an offer to hide from a Russian attack in Ukraine abroad, has become winged in the West.
In online stores in Europe and the United States, you can buy T-shirts with this quote in dozens of different designs-with a map of Ukraine, a Ukrainian warrior, or with a picture of the Ukrainian president . “These words are 100% accurate,” political communicator Gasso Mansfeld told DW.
It’s impossible to imagine, says the Zelensky expert, a bigger contrast to Vladimir Putin, who appears occasionally in the media, sitting at an “amazing” table in government offices with his security advisers. “Putin’s meetings were a miserable sight,” Mansfeld said. At the same time, the Ukrainian president appears in his regular video messages as the exact opposite – a brave, energetic leader of the people giving battle to the aggressor. “His presentations have been impressive,” the expert said.
“Without his impressive performances, this support would not exist”
In a simple khaki T-shirt, with a clean three-day stump-in such a casual look, Vladimir Zelensky talks every day to his people and the parliaments of democratic countries from around the world. For each audience, Zelensky’s speeches find the most appropriate words. “Just as your courage saved your state from the Stalinist invasion, so our courage resists this invasion,” said Zelensky, speaking on April 8 in the Finnish Parliament. To anyone the Ukrainian president talks to in Europe, he is able to draw certain historical similarities to make it clear: “Ukraine is going through what you once went through.”
German political scientist Andre Härtel of the Berlin -based Science and Policy Foundation believes Vladimir Zelensky is better suited to be the Kremlin’s true antipode than any of his predecessors. “There are no photos of him with Vladimir Putin drinking champagne in the archives. He is a representative of a new generation. He has no particular train running since the 90s of last century. He is a Western politician,” he said. Gertel. The analyst is convinced that without the impressive speeches of Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine would not have received arms from Western countries very quickly and in such quantities.
Critical speech in the Bundestag
According to the German political scientist, Zelensky’s group carefully selects the main messages of his speeches, which impress the elites. “Take, for example, his warning in a speech at the Bundestag: his main message is to prevent the creation of a new wall in Europe. It is a very powerful symbol, a very professionally prepared speech,” said one analyst at the Berlin Science and Policy Foundation. This speech was extremely critical of German politicians. The Ukrainian president actually equates the construction of gas pipelines beyond the extreme caution of Ukraine and Germany on the issue of Ukraine’s accession to NATO with Russian bombs here.
At the same time, Andre Gertel said that the critical tone of the Ukrainian president’s speech to the German representatives, although it had understandable grounds, was “on the sidelines”. “When at the end of the speech Zelensky turned to Chancellor Scholz and called him to” leadership that descendants will be proud of, “it was too much. It was insulting and regrettable,” the German expert criticized.
Don’t cross out what has been achieved
Moreover, criticism of Germany from the remnants of Zelensky and other top politicians in Kyiv has only increased, despite the fact that Berlin has changed its position on arms supply and assured Ukraine of an all-round supports. “You have to be careful of such things. It is very easy to destroy the environment in relations with Germany. But Ukraine, both during the war and after it, will need the substantial support of all Western partners without exception, in Germany in particular., “recalls Andre Gertel.
Political consultant Gasso Mansfeld, in turn, called it a mistake not to see German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kyiv and warned that such steps in the eyes of many Germans could cross the positive image of Vladimir Zelensky. “You have to understand how important it is for our culture when someone apologizes. Admitting one’s own mistake is a solid step that we value. Steinmeier admitted that his policy in Russia was a mistake. It was not can be ignored. Offensive to one of the major donors “It will not help Ukraine in any way,” said an expert on political communications.
Mansfeld believes that in such emotional and demonstrative actions “Zelensky broke his mix” in the eyes of the Germans. In support of his words, he cited the numbers: only a third of those analyzed by a series of RTL and n-tv TV channels sympathized with the fact that Vladimir Zelensky refused to meet with Frank-Walter Steinmeier last year. day. 63% considered this behavior inappropriate.
Source: korrespondent
