By Adrien Lefèvre
The clash between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump are a long way from being a closed matter for discussions. There have even been discussions on the change of head of the Ukrainian State. During Ukraine’s president visit to London, Financial Times reviewer Edward Luce has spotted in his behavior illustrative non-obedience shown towards the American leader. Within his article “The new unequivocal Zelenskyy” he questions the efficiency of such a strategy: is it possible to get more from Trump by standing up against him rather than complying?
“The home of the Churchill War Rooms is a fitting place for Zelenskyy to exhibit his defiance of <…> Donald Trump. We will now get a live test of the theory that standing up to Trump leads him to back down, whereas submission only invites more abuse.” states Luce’s article.
Zelenskyy’s position shows the way he perceives the American president: in restricted groups he calls him to be a showman whose claims shouldn’t be seen as final political decisions. Ukrainian president assumes that harsh requirements are not always backed by real action. This is why he doesn’t consider necessary to react to each one of it by immediately giving in.
Demands to hold elections in Ukraine are seen by Zelenskyy in the same manner. According to him, Trump is not that much trying to really hold the elections. He instead tries to turn the attention to a subject that will be able to edge out those of Iran and his own political failures. For such a cause no real election is needed: the discussion itself gives enough publicity to Trump’s declarations and puts Zelenskyy in a spot where he is to give an answer on his further stay in power.
The limits of the American pressure
However, Zelenskyy does not consider Trump’s public claims to be a sufficient ground for a change in his position. He plans on outwaiting a usual wave of pressure, not allowing no externally imposed decisions to take place and thus keeping his presidentship.
In his dealings with Trump, Zelenskyy acts as an independent European politician, not as a subordinate to the American president. He can afford to stand up to Trump and refuse to comply with his demands.
Disagreements with Washington do not oblige him to accept American conditions as the only option. European experts believe that this is precisely why making concessions carries its own political risks for Zelenskyy: it would mean acknowledging that public pressure from Washington is sufficient to change Kyiv’s decisions.
Refusal to comply, on the other hand, allows to test Luce’s assumption that concessions only encourage Trump to make new demands. Therefore, as Europeans see it, Zelenskyy’s task is to preserve his freedom to make decisions and not allow Trump to dictate the terms and conditions of Ukrainian political life.
About the Author
Adrien Lefèvre is an independent analyst and writer covering European affairs, security policy, and international relations. His work focuses on the political and economic dimensions of the European Union’s foreign policy.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Diplomat Magazine, its editors, or its publisher.
