The story of Vladimir Zelensky during the first five months of Russian-Russian war on Ukraine: how Russian troops confront Putin in Enerhodar
Different sides of the war in Ukraine reach for different, simple narratives about Mr. Zelensky. He is the hero who stayed in Ukraine when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, or he is the thin-skinned “dictator without elections.” The truth has always been more complicated: Mr. Zelensky is an imperfect leader of a fledgling democracy, and a former actor in the role of his life. At times he has seemed like the right man for the moment, at others he’s seemed in over his head.
Zelenskyy’s comments capped a week of intense dialogue about how to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine. The Trump administration has held separate meetings with Ukrainian and Russian officials this week. On Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to enact a 30-day ceasefire, but so far Russia has wanted to set further conditions before reaching a short-term truce.
“Our partners know our red lines, that we do not recognize the occupied territories as territories of Russia, and we will never recognize them,” Zelenskyy said.
In the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump referred to a power plant in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar as “a very big power plant” during his talk about territorial concessions. This nuclear power plant, which is not generating electricity right now, is the largest in Europe and has been under Russian occupation since 2022.
Putin claimed on Thursday that his troops had cornered Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk. The Russian military has overrun many of the UK’s Ukrainian troops, and Trump called on Putin to spare their lives. Speaking before Russia’s Security Council on Friday, Putin said if the Ukrainian forces “lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment.”
Zelenskyy mentioned the situation for the Ukrainian troops in Kursk was difficult, but that they had accomplished their main objective, which was to divert the Russian troops from Pokrovsk, a city under attack for months.