KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to New York on September 24-26 for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly and events surrounding it witnessed a whirlwind of activity and a barrage of commentary. The question in Kyiv is how has Mr. Zelenskyy emerged from this diplomatic baptism of fire and what it bodes for Ukraine.
It was a very difficult time for the Ukrainian leader to go to the U.S. and the stakes remain high. Given the intensification of the political infighting between the Democrats and the Republicans in the U.S., controversy around the Trump-Zelenskyy connection overshadowed everything else. Understandably, perhaps, but there was also more to it all than this.