I don't think Zelensky wants power, with such a horrific price tag, Dirius. I think he's very courageous. Someone had to spearhead resistance to Putin's invasion; and as president, he was it.
I point out that Ukrainians did not greet Russian tanks with candy and flowers, as Putin anticipated.
This poem by Sir Walter Scott, is for you, Dirius:
"
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung."
I don't agree Zelensky is hero. While I agree Ukraine is a sovereign nation and should be entitled to do as they please, they are the ones losing the war, and are not in a position to bargain. It is their civilians who die each day. Especially if these demands are reasonable, which they kind of are, in the sense that Russia could ask for much more. The terroritories Russia demands recognition for, have not been under Ukranian control for a long time.
Ukraine isn't losing much more than they already did years ago. But Zelensky does not want to leave power.
