On the third bleak anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - no it wasn't the other way around - a dozen western leaders of actual democracies came to Ukraine for commemorative events in solidarity, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a somber, wrenching video thanking his people for their three years of resistance, bravery, and unity. No finger-pointing, self-serving, transactional bullshit. Just grit and gratitude. This is leadership.
At the Ukraine events, Western leaders warned of the war's wider implications for global security even as the U.S. shamefully withdraws from its responsibilities on the whim of a Putin-beholden thug. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed the recognition that the war is "not just about Ukraine." "(It's) about the rules and the values and the principles of sovereignty, of independence, territorial integrity that protects every country in the world," he said. "All of us rely on those rules to be able to build peace and security.”
In The Atlantic, Franklin Foer praises Zelinksy for having stoically taken on his new role as “a sturdy bulwark against autocracy.” His very presence, Foer notes, "reprimands everyone who surrendered to Trump." Summoning a scene that recalled "the darkest days of oligarchic rule," Foer describes the Godfather-like moment earlier this month when U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slipped a piece of paper across the table to Zelensky, intoning, “You really need to sign this.” In response to Trump's sordid extortion attempt - demanding he give the U.S.the rights to $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s minerals - Zelinksy gravely declined with, "I can’t sell our state.”
He later explained that paying back the sum could take 250 years, and he could not sign something "that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to repay” - never mind it would also likely mean a loss of their essential sovereignty. With his integrity and his fortitude, Zelensky has put to shame the cowards, bootlickers and quid-pro-quo hucksters, both here and around the world, who have bent the knee to America's greedy new mad king, thus making him what Foer calls "the global leader of the anti-authoritarian resistance." Even on this dark occasion, he only obliquely referenced his lonely stance, thanking "most of our partners" for their support. We, in turn, thank him. Foer: "He reminds despairing liberals, 'We are still here.'”
