Year after year, the former TV star has received good marks for his way of handling the war and the world around him.
Although Zelenskyy's lack of a jacket during his botched White House meeting with Donald Trump last spring caused some uproar in conservative circles, the meeting quickly turned to Zelenskyy's advantage; he has been praised for his wise statements, firm rhetoric, and personal courage during the war.
Threatened Orbán
Recently, however, there has been a change. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he was surprisingly critical of the aid from Europe, which led some to murmur about “ingrateness” behind the scenes.
Even more eyebrows were raised when Zelenskyy recently talked about sending his army to speak to “a certain person” in the EU who is blocking necessary financial support.
The president was referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who immediately received flanking support from political friends in Europe.
"Not a single euro more to Kyiv and Zelensky's gang of corrupt rascals," for example, snarled Harald Vilimsky from Austria's currently largest party, the far-right FPÖ, on X.
Criticism from the EU
The European Commission and EU Council President António Costa have also criticized Zelenskyy's words.
We cannot accept when someone, even in an emotional moment, expresses himself inappropriately towards a leader in an EU country, Costa said in an interview with TT and others within the news agency collaboration ENR.
In Hungary, the words also became a real gift to the government, which, in its campaign for the parliamentary elections on April 12, finally received "proof" that Ukraine is a threat.
"President Zelensky's statement was counterproductive. The Hungarian government discovered that the provocation worked and what we will see in the coming month is even more provocations," said Zsuzsanna Végh from the German think tank GMF at an event in Brussels.
"Frustration"
Zelenskyy's loss of patience is mainly explained by the fact that he is increasingly pressured by demands to give up land in order to achieve peace.
It is the frustration that is driving the harsher rhetoric, a former employee told the news site Politico Europe anonymously.
"Zelensky understands that he cannot sacrifice national interests and give up. Therefore, his statements to Western leaders are becoming clearer and more direct," MP Mykola Knyazhytsky told the same site.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (born 1978) has been President of Ukraine since 2019, when he defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in the decisive second round of elections.
He grew up in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine. He trained as a lawyer, but chose a career as a comedian and actor.
Zelenskyy became famous through the television series "Servant of the People", in which he portrays a history teacher who is unexpectedly elected president of Ukraine.
He met his future wife Olena while still in high school. The couple married in 2003 and have two children, born in 2004 and 2013.
