The magazine’s source cited the Ukrainian leader’s 2023 demand that Kiev be admitted into NATO
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has the mind of a child, several anonymous former and current officials from the country have told Der Spiegel.
In an article on Monday, the magazine recounted how the politician came to power on a populist platform back in 2019, dishing out simplistic solutions to the many problems facing Ukraine, including the conflict in Donbass. The outlet quoted a former staff member as saying that Zelensky “didn’t just speak like a populist, that’s how he actually thought,” with an unnamed senior official in Kiev adding that “still today, he has the worldview of a schoolchild.”
According to the publication, after Zelensky received tumultuous applause in the US Congress in December 2022, “his confidence grew” to such an extent that he felt he could berate his Western backers for what he saw as a lack of enthusiasm. Der Spiegel cited his confrontational message ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July 2023, when he found out that the member states would not be extending an invitation to his country.
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelensky charged in a post on X at the time.
His outburst did not sit well with Washington, with former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan saying that “I think the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude” from the leadership in Kiev.
“The outburst was consistent with his demeanor: emotional, maximalist, often reproachful in tone,” Der Spiegel claimed. It further quoted an unnamed “person who used to work closely with” Zelensky as confirming that the Ukrainian leader “is like a child.”
The source explained that Zelensky “thinks: If you only wish for something hard enough and really believe in it, you’ll get it.”
The media outlet suggested that Zelensky’s “aim is to prove himself as a protagonist with his actions, without considering the consequences.”
However, “for Zelenskyy and Ukraine, there is no role left to play,” with Western support apparently eroding and Russian forces advancing in Donbass.
“He looks powerless and vulnerable,” Der Spiegel concluded.
In the wake of the acrimonious exchange between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House on Friday, NBC News quoted anonymous sources as saying that no one had “expected [Zelensky] to walk in there and act like such a petulant child,” characterizing the Ukrainian leader’s demeanor as “entitled” and “needlessly provocative.”
