VLAD WHO?:

Under pressure from Putin, Zelenskiy has undergone a profound political transformation. One thing is clear: he is no longer the same dove that he was on the campaign trail. Russia is pushing Ukraine toward Nato, he says, and a membership action plan is now central to his foreign policy. This month, Zelenskiy toured the frontline outside Donetsk. Wearing a flak jacket and helmet, he chatted with service personnel who will be the first line of Ukraine's defence should tanks from Russia begin to roll.

Russia has openly spurned Zelenskiy's efforts to negotiate and talks have virtually ceased. Fifty Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since last year's ceasefire, a fact that weighs heavily on Ukraine's actor turned president. "I think he's matured. He's aged. You can see that," said Orysia Lutsevych, a research fellow and manager of the Ukraine forum in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House. "He's simply had to experience the burden of responsibility."

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