Donald Trump will “never” support Putin, says Volodymyr Zelensky
But Ukraine’s president fears that some of his country’s Western backers are losing faith
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY does not want to think about a long war, let alone talk about the possibility to Ukrainians, many of whom still dream of winning fast. But that is what he is preparing for. “I have to be ready, my team has to be ready for the long war, and emotionally I am ready,” Ukraine’s president says in an interview with The Economist. Speaking on the margins of the YES conference, an international pow-wow in Kyiv, he is composed and sombre. At the same setting a year ago, the mood was euphoric; news of Ukrainian forces’ success in pushing Russia back from the Kharkiv region was pinging on every smartphone in the room.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Staying the course”
Europe September 16th 2023
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