No, Zelensky: World War Three hasn’t started |
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says that World War Three has already started. Speaking to the BBC on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion, it’s understandable why he would want to take this line, but he’s wrong.
What is striking about Putin is the lack of a messianic ideology
What is striking about Putin is the lack of a messianic ideology
On an emotional level, Zelensky has seen millions of his citizens flee within and out of his country, its cities and infrastructure shattered, and Vladimir Putin’s propagandists denounce him variously as a Nazi apologist, drug addict and western puppet. Of course he will frame this in the most apocalyptic of terms.
More to the point, Ukraine is now dependent on European aid. It is European money that keeps the government solvent, and arms the troops. At a time when budgets are tight and populist parties on the rise – and many are either more sympathetic to Moscow, or at least less indulgent of Kyiv – arguably Zelensky’s key role is to keep Europe engaged, and that means sometimes inspired, and sometimes terrified.
To this end, Zelensky needs constantly to reinforce the notion that Ukraine is fighting not just for its own sovereignty and survival, but all Europe’s. That every euro or pound,........