Volodymyr Zelensky, the comedian who became president of Ukraine by chance!
At the most dangerous time in the confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War, Volodymyr Zelensky became president of Ukraine, and what increases the danger is that Zelensky (44 years old) is not a politician but a former actor!
Watching Russia amass more than 100,000 soldiers on his country's borders, he does what he knows best: tell the more than 40 million Ukrainians to keep calm.
And he addressed them last January, saying, "What should we do? Only one thing...Keep calm."
"We will celebrate Easter in April. Then in May, as always, we will enjoy the sun, holidays and barbecues," he added.
He then declared February 16, the day some US officials had identified as a possible beginning of the Russian invasion, as a national holiday "Unity Day" during which citizens would parade with flags and balloons.
Zelensky's political adventure, according to The Independent, began as a joke on the evening of December 31, 2018, with the televised announcement of his candidacy for the presidential elections. The evening comedy show was a hit while the country was undergoing profound change.
A Ukrainian pro-EU revolution in 2014 toppled Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych and brought in a new political team that had to contend with an escalating conflict in the east of the country and an economy heading toward collapse.
Ukrainians watched the president in the comedy show making crude jokes to his wife and going to work on a bicycle with a terrified look.
This contributed to making Zelensky win the hearts of millions and win the presidential election over candidate Petro Poroshenko in the second round with more than 70 percent of the vote.
But some Ukrainians prepared for the worst.
His critics have compared him to famous politicians such as Italian Silvio Berlusconi and US President Donald Trump.
Zelensky's initial appearance in the media with other world leaders seemed artificial.
"I think our international partners are having a hard time dealing with him. He's not up to them," said Ukrainian political analyst Mykola Davyduk.
"They are moving at a very high level that he cannot reach, and he cannot understand," he added.
However, some Western diplomats seem to be fascinated by his charm.
"Honestly, his political performance isn't too bad," one diplomat said. "He shows equanimity. He has an impossible job. He's caught between the pressures of the Russians and the Americans."
The current confrontation with Moscow, which puts Ukraine at the center of the most serious Russian-Western crisis since the end of the Cold War, constitutes a turning point in the presidency of Zelensky, who reached the Ukrainian presidency pledging to open channels of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to the bloody conflict in the east of the country, which has so far claimed more than 14 thousand people.
The two leaders held a summit in Paris a few months after Zelensky's election, which Putin praised as an "important step".
But Zelensky had a different opinion, stating, "My peers said it was a very good result for a first meeting. But I'll be honest, it's a very low result."
Since then, relations between the two presidents have been deteriorating continuously.
Putin accused Zelensky's government of "discriminating" against Russian speakers and abandoning earlier promises to settle the conflict in the east.
Last month, Zelensky's proposal to hold a three-way summit with Putin and US President Joe Biden fell on deaf ears in Moscow.
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