Time For Ukraine President Zelensky To Ditch Fatigues And Again Wear A Suit. Fatigues No Longer Impactful- Now Overripe Costume In Need Of Change. Distracting Rather Than Enhancing His Message.
Time For Ukraine President Zelensky To Ditch The Fatigues And Again Wear A Suit
Fatigues No Longer Impactful- Now An Overripe Costume In Need Of Change
Distracting From His Message Rather Than Enhancing The Message.
No Fatigues From His Inauguration In 2019 To 24 February 2022- Ukraine Had Been At War With Russian Federation Since 2014.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019- ), will visit New York City to participate in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Heads of state, heads of government, and designated representative remarks (expected to be limited to fifteen minutes each) are scheduled from 19 September 2023 to 29 September 2023. President Zelensky did not participate in-person at the 77th UNGA.
19 September Morning: Brazil, United States, Colombia, Jordan, Poland, Cuba, Turkey, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Guatemala, Hungary, Switzerland, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan.
23 September 2023 Morning: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cape Verde, Somalia, Sao Tome and Principe, Laos, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, Liechtenstein, Philippines, New Zealand, Maldives, San Marino.
The text of President Zelensky’s remarks is predictable. The tone of his remarks is predictable. The delivery style is predictable.
He should use this appearance at the UNGA as a transitional moment to dispense with the olive color t-shirts and cargo pants… and again wear a suit.
Other heads of state and heads of government who have not served in the armed forces have led their countries in conflict while wearing a suit. After nearing nineteen (19) months, time for a costume change- which an actor appreciates is always a productive means to retain an audience- do the unexpected.
The Prime Minster of Ukraine wears a suit; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine wears a suit; the Minister of Finance wears a suit.
The First Lady of Ukraine has always appeared in stylish costumes (dresses and suits) during her extensive international travel- no olive color cargo pants or t-shirt for her.
What had commenced as a costume of solidarity with members of the armed forces of Ukraine has morphed into an overused, tired costume.
He does not need to shave.
For His Message
A profound mistake if the government of Ukraine and its advocates continue to coalesce around the strategy of “you are for us, you are with us, or you against us and we will punish you” and demanding, insulting, belittling, and threatening country political leadership (and private sector leadership whose companies provide taxpayer funding which is used to pay interest on the funds borrowed for uses relating to Ukraine) by not showing gratitude- and showing continuing gratitude.
And not, as President Zelensky horrifically performed at the July 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he delivered a mocking, insulting dialogue towards the taxpayers of countries whose governments have used scarce resources and borrowing to support Ukraine. President Zelensky was smug. Disrespectful. Thought he was being cute. He was being insulting.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia. The 600-member Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkiye has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden- which has no border with the Russian Federation. The 199-member National Assembly of Hungary (Country Assembly) has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden.
“There is a slight word of caution here, which is that whether we like it or not people want to see gratitude.” Ben Wallace, then Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
“Well, I don’t really understand the questions. I believe that we were always grateful to the United Kingdom…. He can write to me about how he wants to be thanked, so we can fully express our gratitude… We can make a point to wake up (every) morning and thank him.” President Zelensky then asked Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine at the time, “Do you have a poor relationship with the (UK) defense minister? Excellent, is it? Well, make sure to thank him...; and kindly call him today.”
That President Zelensky did not appreciate, and could not appreciate that he was being an ingrate is a problem for the government of Ukraine, for the citizens of Ukraine, and for those in the public sectors and private sectors outside of Ukraine who support Ukraine.
President Zelensky needs self-remind that support for Ukraine was not, is not, and will not be an obligation. The elasticity of the last nineteen months, deference shown to the government of Ukraine, has found its limitations and various levels of exhaustion. Most of the results are self-inflicted.
Ukraine should request no further funds from United States taxpayers be in the form of grants; all assistance should be in the form of loans- as is much of delivered and planned assistance from the twenty-seven member countries of the Brussels, Belgium-based European Union (EU). There will be more sustainable support for government of Ukraine when the government of Ukraine accepts the financial burden rather than export that burden to already burdened taxpayers.
European Union (EU): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Ursula von der Leyen, President (2019- ) of the Brussels, Belgium-based European Commission (EC), the operational entity for the members of the EU, shared that the EU, collectively, has a “special responsibility” for Ukraine. “Can we imagine the EU without Ukraine, Moldova, or the Western Balkans? Do we want to see these parts of Europe influenced by Russia or China? It is impossible. So, the direction of movement is clear.”
Asking United States taxpayers borrow more than the US$113.1 billion authorized in 2022 and then another US$24 billion requested recently by the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) to provide funds for uses relating to Ukraine when the EU, which seeks Ukraine as a member, is unwilling to do the same, the message to United States taxpayers is once again they are asked by their elected representatives to provide for others what they (EU members) are unwilling to provide themselves because they do not have to do so.
The government of Ukraine should ask that no United States taxpayer funds be provided to the government of Ukraine or private sectors in Ukraine when those funds are to assist integration with EU because that is the responsibility of the EU as the EU has provided candidacy status to Ukraine.
Why should United States taxpayers borrow US$230 million for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide to Ukraine-based companies so they may integrate with the EU?
The government of Ukraine should reimburse United States taxpayers all funds thus far delivered to Ukraine for the purpose of supporting, directly or indirectly, the integration of Ukraine with the EU. This includes Ukraine-based companies.
Ukraine should request that the Biden-Harris Administration require data on the disbursement of funds relating to Ukraine, those delivered directly and those delivered indirectly, be available to the public through a searchable online database and that there should be monthly auditing reporting delivered to the United States Congress and available to the public so that all funds are accounted for.
The Biden-Harris Administration should only provide further military assistance to Ukraine if those funds are matched, dollar for dollar, from members of the European Union (EU) and by other NATO members.
At present, the armed forces of the Russian Federation appear not to be actively seeking to expand the real estate within the territory of Ukraine they have occupied since 2014 and since 2022. At present, the armed forces of Ukraine appear not to be successfully retaking meaningful portions of the real estate occupied by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. In an increasing number of countries, observers, political leadership, taxpayers, and voters view a landscape as similar to what existed on 23 February 2022. As such, the optics portray a war, a conflict not requiring investment past which is necessary to maintain the status quo, as distasteful that reality is for the government of Ukraine and citizens of Ukraine.
If the armed forces of the Russian Federation are not showing a desire to obtain additional real estate in Ukraine, challenging to continue a narrative from Ukraine that the government of Ukraine and the armed forces of Ukraine are doing battle for “the free world” because today the survival of Ukraine does not seem in doubt- only the size of Ukraine seems in doubt.
The War
On 24 February 2022, the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded and further invaded the territory of Ukraine in what Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (2000-2008 and 2012- ), defined as a Special Military Operation [SMO] then on 22 December 2022 he redefined as a war. The initial invasion by the armed forces of the Russian Federation was in part from the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
The war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine did not commence on 24 February 2022. The roots began their trajectories on 20 February 2014 when the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded the Crimean Peninsula and the area known as the Donbas Region (Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast).