Zelensky was accused by an unnamed close aide in late October of having messianic delusions of victory over Russia according to Time Magazine’s damning cover story about him, and while he’s since sobered up a bit after Politico just mocked him, the Ukrainian leader still doesn’t realize that his side lost. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, and the US’ top general Charles Brown Jr. all debunked his remaining delusions in each of their statements over the past few days.
Beginning with the first, this famous boxing champion told Der Spiegel that “Ukraine is on the path to authoritarianism” and that the local authorities are now “under enormous pressure” from the center. This makes Klitschko the latest of Zelensky’s rivals after former advisor Alexey Arestovich and Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny. His importance amidst Ukraine’s growing political divisions is that he could one day leverage his enormous respect among the capital’s residents to lead future protests.
As for the second, he told Germany’s Das Erste TV that “wars are difficult to plan” so “we have to be prepared for bad news” from Ukraine. This follows his admission last week that “even with this substantial significant military support from NATO Allies, [Ukraine has] not, over the last year, been able to move the front line. And that just reflects the fact that we should never underestimate Russia.” He’s basically preconditioning the public for the possibility of a Russian counteroffensive sometime soon.
Rounding everything out with the new Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, this leading military official told the Reagan National Defense Forum in response to a question about the Ukrainian endgame that “any military conflict, you don’t solve it completely by military means. It ends up with a diplomatic solution.” He then added that America’s armed aid to that country is aimed at “shaping” the outcome. Simply put, he tacitly admitted that Zelensky’s envisaged maximalist victory over Russia isn’t realistic.
Putting these three statements together, they collectively contributed to debunking the Ukrainian leader’s remaining delusions by informing the public of how ridiculous each aspect thereof is. Klitschko used his credibility with Westerners to confirm that Zelensky has indeed turned into a dictator, Stoltenberg is preparing them for bad news from the front, while Brown is telling them to expect a political compromise with Russia. All told, there’s no doubt that the Ukrainian Conflict is winding down.
