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[A] rivalry is already apparent. Ukraine's relationship with Russia, which seized part of its territory in 2014 and has continued to back a wider separatist uprising, is the pivot around which many of Europe's most pressing security problems revolve. Mr. Zelensky has approached it with a combination of calculated assertiveness and strategic generosity, reaching out to Russian speakers whom his nationalist predecessor could not hope to win over.

"One of the reasons for this conflict is the two countries have chosen different ways of development," said Bogdan Yaremenko, a newly elected member of Parliament in Mr. Zelensky's political party who is focused on foreign policy and relations with Russia.

"And now this actor who is perceived very positively by most of his viewers is representing his country," Mr. Yaremenko said. "So the positive attitude toward Zelensky might be transferred to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian way of government."

Western sanctions are creating a long-term drag on the Russian economy, denting Mr. Putin's still-high popularity at home and creating pressure for the Kremlin to find a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

Mr. Zelensky campaigned on promises to seek an end to the conflict, giving rise to cautious optimism among Western diplomats over Europe's only active war, simmering now for five years. Mr. Zelensky telephoned Mr. Putin on July 11, suggesting that both sides were ready to engage.

Like two boxers in a ring, however, Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky have spent two months now circling, dancing around and jabbing each other.

Mr. Putin appears to have engineered a series of small crises to test the new president. But where the previous Ukrainian leader, Petro O. Poroshenko, was constrained by Ukrainian nationalist sentiment in Parliament, Mr. Zelensky has seized chances to appeal to eastern Ukraine's Russian-speaking miners and steel workers -- and even to those tiring of Mr. Putin in Russia.

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