Were I a political officer at Ukraine‘s Washington embassy, my memo to the ambassador this week would be titled either, “Are we working for Putin now?” or “What the f*** are we doing?”
Whenever the United Kingdom’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill came to America, he was laser-focused on one objective: securing maximal American support for the defeat of Adolf Hitler. Putting his non-insignificant ego aside, Churchill employed charm, history, and oratory to persuade Americans and Congress that defeating Nazism was America’s cause as much as Britain’s. By doing so, Churchill saved his nation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is employing a different strategy on his visit to the United States this week. A far less impressive one.
After all, Zelensky’s strategy seems to center on making himself an avowed Democratic Party partisan. In so doing, Zelensky has greatly undermined Republican supporters of Ukraine in Congress and attracted the predictable ire of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
This is gravely unfortunate. Ukraine’s defensive war against an imperialist Russian invasion is manifestly just. Zelensky’s refusal to yield is unquestionably courageous. Ukraine’s ability to sustain its fight toward a tolerable peace accord is in the U.S. national interest. And although Europe should be doing far more for Ukraine, Kyiv deserves continued American support.
Still, the only beneficiaries of Zelensky’s antics this week are the Democratic Party and Zelensky’s ego. Most certainly not Ukraine.
First came the New Yorker interview in which Zelensky implied that Trump had been “flirting with” Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky explicitly described Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), as “too radical,” arrogantly adding, “Let Mr. Vance read up on the history of the Second World War when a country was forced to give part of its territory to one particular person.” Absurdly, Zelensky then praised himself for having the “wisdom of not becoming captured by American domestic politics. We have always tried to avoid influencing the choices of the American people — that would simply be wrong.”
Yes, Zelensky said all this in the same interview.
Apparently unsatisfied with the damage his New Yorker waltz had done, Zelensky then threw fuel on the partisan fire. He visited an arms manufacturer in the swing state of Pennsylvania alongside high-profile Democrats but no Republicans. No Republicans were invited. Not only did this visit present Zelensky as inherently captured by American domestic politics, but it did so in a way that potently undermines Ukraine’s critical bastion of support among congressional Republicans. Zelensky’s interview and visit were particular slights to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson aggravated many in his caucus and sacrificed significant political capital to ensure Ukraine received a major military aid package earlier this year. The speaker was thus absolutely justified in writing to Zelensky to demand that he fire his ambassador over the Pennsylvania stunt.
But there’s a broader problem here. Namely, that Zelensky’s ego far outstrips his strategic intellect. We’ve seen this dynamic in Zelensky’s sporadic firing sprees against perceived domestic rivals, his disdain for showing gratitude over Western arms supplies, and his temper tantrums against key foreign supporters. It would be one thing were these courses of action favorable to Ukraine’s interests. But as with Zelensky’s American adventure, that manifestly is not the case.
If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency in November, Zelensky will likely find continued American support, albeit with greater disenchantment from erstwhile Republican allies in Congress. But if Trump is elected, Zelensky will face a president who is already delusional about the realities of the war and the practicalities of peace (more on that in my next piece today) and who is now also personally offended.
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Trump’s inability to separate his ego from national interests is well understood by anyone with eyes and ears. Ignoring that reality, Zelensky’s failure to separate his ego from Ukraine’s national interests may carry grave consequences.
Zelensky wants Vance to read the history of the Second World War. Fine. But he should also read Churchill’s memoirs. Especially his advice that “there is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.”