Zelenskyy has no cards to play against Russia or the West
Key takeaways
- The president seems unable to secure for the Ukrainian people a gain that can compensate for a painful peace.
- United States President Donald Trump, who has openly attacked him in public, famously called the Ukrainian leader “the greatest salesman on Earth”.
- But Zelenskyy’s PR genius can do very little when it comes to changing the dynamics of the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The president seems unable to secure for the Ukrainian people a gain that can compensate for a painful peace.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo German chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for German-Ukrainian government consultations in Berlin on April 14, 2026 [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP]Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s artistic skills have earned him the reputation of a public relations genius acknowledged by both friends and foes. United States President Donald Trump, who has openly attacked him in public, famously called the Ukrainian leader “the greatest salesman on Earth”. A much more sympathetic voice, New York Times columnist David French, has recently portrayed Zelenskyy as “the new leader of free world”.
But Zelenskyy’s PR genius can do very little when it comes to changing the dynamics of the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine war. In recent weeks, his administration and allies have tried hard to create the impression that the war might be approaching a turning point. But realities on the ground tell a different story.