Lupine

Zelenskyy has provoked anger, hatred, and irritation toward the Ukrainian nation all over the world. Right now we are reading many posts in which that irritation and anger at Zelenskyy is being exported onto the entire Ukrainian people. I see this in different countries in Europe and in America, especially among conservative audiences. But when we actually start talking to these people, we discover that they have deep values and humanity. And suddenly they begin to realize that Zelenskyy is one thing, and Ukrainians are something completely different. They start to see that Ukrainians deserve empathy and compassion. That Ukrainians are, in fact, hostages — hostages of Putin’s brutality and of Zelenskyy’s incompetence, as well as his cruelty. Hostages of two autocracies. And that is terrifying. When those in the West who condemn all of Ukraine because of how Zelenskyy behaves begin to see that there are actually reasonable, common-sense people among Ukrainians — people you can negotiate with, people who want to create added value — they suddenly begin to respect an independent Ukraine. They start to understand that meritocracy is possible in Ukraine and that we share the same fundamental values. However, what Zelenskyy has turned the Ukrainian state into — the state apparatus, the rhetoric from his comedy past that he turned into diplomacy, his lack of seriousness, his mental problems, the crudeness of his attitude toward others, the rudeness — all of this has provoked enormous disrespect toward my people. And I beg you: when you make decisions about Zelenskyy, please think about how those decisions will affect the Ukrainian people. We have many businessmen, workers, intelligent, creative, incredibly principled people with deep values who deserve respect and real democracy. They deserve the chance to lead Ukraine into a new future — one with peace and stability, where we can once again build the future we want for our children.