IMHO, I think what happened at the Oval Office the other day was Zelensky being spontaneous, it’s his personality. Profile the man, the former comedian and actor, and we might have a better understanding of the human factors at play. (Profiling Trump and Vance is another topic; I’m going to focus on Zelensky here.)
Personality and behaviour
Zelensky has virtually removed opposition in Ukraine, he’s formed no coalitions with opposition parties, no elections, etc.(1) Something is not right about that. (See footnotes and my comment about state of emergencies and martial laws [in Ukraine] and suspension of elections.)
He appears very self-centred.
It seems like he wants the war to continue, and I hate saying that but that is what it looks like. This might be power-tripping on his part; he likes the position and attention. Narcissism?
He is clearly very shortsighted (and feels entitled) and incapable of understanding consequences, ramifications and variables; for him, it’s become apparent that everything is here-and-now, spontaneous. (Sociopaths have this trait and fault– I’m not outright saying Zelensky is a sociopath, but there seem to be some flags popping up.)
Zelensky doesnt wear suits
Zelensky doesn’t seem to be self-aware.
He doesn’t wear a suit to meet dignitaries, the Pope, NATO leaders, etc., but wears quasi-ubercasual-collarless-militaryish clothing to meet these people, even when he’s asking for help for his nation. When a reporter asked him why he doesn’t wear a suit, he replied in this strange way and referred to suits as a “costume”. Yet, who was in the Oval Office wearing a costume?* The optics are bad. Self-respect and respect for others to dress appropriately would help. Zelensky’s outfits are contrived, making him look warrior-ish, it’s a brand he’s trying to create, but it falls terribly short of the mark. Other world leaders who wore military-type clothing wore a proper uniform, with collars and ranks, etc.; think Castro, Qaddafi, Arafat, etc. (Most often, when we see political or world leaders in uniforms they are dictators or rebel leaders or terrorist leaders. Is Zelensky somewhere in between with his casual outfit? He’s not a military man.) SEE: https://youtu.be/iNw-tpm8O-U?si=suKK59gBv9DtKGQD
Shortages of armaments, ammo and components worldwide
I know that there are shortages in the world for things related to armaments, ammunition and components that go into making the ammunitions. The war in Ukraine and Israel is eating all this up. Countries at peace that want to buy, will have a long waiting period to receive the items and ammunition required, perhaps two years or more in many cases.
The war in Ukraine is not sustainable. Russo-Ukraine War has become a war of attrition, and it’s a bloody war with casualties we’ve not seen since WWII. Ukraine is not winning but bravely holding off as best they can against the Russian juggernaut. Ukraine is forcibly conscripting men to go to the front, as Vance stated, and this is a fact. (Zelensky response to Vance was silly, asking if Vance has been to Ukraine, which is irrelevant to Vance’s point that there are forced conscriptions– Zelensky’s response appeared to me as a sociopath pattern of argument, i.e. pivot, deflect, make it about the person who puts you on the spot.) And Ukrainian desertions are off the charts according to some reports (See: History Legends, ‘Why Are So Many Ukrainian Soldiers DESERTING?’: https://youtu.be/g_8_p8Kyqb0?si=b9R8aGYyO91lSjY9)
NATO
Ukraine will never be a part of NATO. No one in NATO wants Ukraine in NATO. It’s too high risk, and the risk of giving NATO membership to Ukraine was evident years ago. Ukraine was considered volatile and a flashpoint for war. I don’t think Zelensky sees this is on the table anymore.
War of attrition
My point is that the war, the burden on nations aiding Ukraine, the depleting war resources, armaments, and ammo (worldwide), the lack of resources and funds, the costs, and the costs to Ukraine in lives are simply not sustainable.
With Zelensky, he acts entitled while biting the hand that feeds him and cutting off his nose to spite his face at the same time.
I support Ukraine. They are fighting bravely, and they stopped the Russians from taking the country 3 years ago, almost miraculously. Nonetheless, as the reality of the situation is, considering all the variables, peace is the best option because, as I stated earlier, it’s not sustainable, and Russia has the advantage. I don’t think Russia should be awarded anything in a peace deal, but reality is what it is. Russia is hurting too because of the war they started and continuing, they are paying dearly economically, in resources, in manpower, equipment, etc., and that’s good. However, that can be used to Ukraine’s advantage, with US support, and a compromise on both sides will be required. Besides, does Ukraine really want to keep Eastern parts of Ukraine with large ethnic Russian and pro-Russian peoples, including pro-Russian Ukrainians, that have fought a civil war against Kyiv since 2014, that might kick off again after a peace deal? Yet, almost ironically, it’s Ukraine’s President who might be blocking the way to peace, risking everything, including his country’s very existence, and doing so in a most shortsighted way– and that might have to do with personality type, I hate to say.
–RdM
Also see Lisa Benson’s related LinkedIn posting: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7301799072535851008?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7301799072535851008%2C7301963499159621632%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287301963499159621632%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7301799072535851008%29
*Addendum: I’m being told that when Zelensky used the word “costume” it’s a common word in Ukrainian that refers to suits or a suit. The argument in his defence is that it’s a linguistic matter, that his English is not that good, so it was misinterpreted. Even so, the fact remains that Zelensky consistently wears tactical pajamas, does not wear a suit to meet important people who are helping his country, and, most of all, when the journalist asked him why he doesn’t wear suits, his response, using the word “costume” was dismissive, where he fundamentally said maybe he’d wear a “costume” (i.e. a suit[?]) after the war, a cheap one or more expensive one than what the journalist was wearing. Bad attitude.
(1) Apparently, Ukraine’s constitution doesn’t allow for elections during a state of emergency and martial law. This makes sense, actually, as normally, with a state of emergency and martial law, elections are suspended. Of course, state of emergency and martial law can and has been abused by those in power throughout modern history to hold power and suppress opposition. Has Zelensky abused this power?
Brilliant Royce! Undisputed Facts that support my last email.