POLITICO: Europe tires of Zelenskyy’s lectures

He’s become quicker to lecture European leaders. He’s noticeably adopted a more strident and imperious tone with allies this year. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been throwing caution to the wind when it comes to how he engages with Europe. And it’s raising hackles, POLITICO stresses.

Last month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly remonstrated with Zelenskyy over his insistence Ukraine be admitted quickly as an EU member, dubbing the Ukrainian leader’s proposed swift timeline for accession as unrealistic. “Zelenskyy had the idea of joining the EU on January 1, 2027. That will not work. Even January 1, 2028, is not realistic,” the German leader said.

Merz also conditioned membership on the war having finished, saying membership wouldn’t be possible while the conflict is raging. And he indicated, to Kyiv’s annoyance, that the path to EU membership would likely involve ceding territory to Russia — a break from the general European consensus that allies shouldn’t dictate peace terms to Ukraine.

“Relations are tense at the moment and probably at their lowest wartime point between Kyiv and Brussels,” a former senior Ukrainian official told Forecast. He spoke on the condition of anonymity to be able to speak candidly, fearful of incurring Zelenskyy’s ire.

At an informal EU summit in Cyprus in April, Zelenskyy was reportedly upbraided by other European leaders over his EU membership expectations and his rejection of incremental membership spread over many years as Ukraine gets set to implement demanded reforms and truly address corruption concerns. According to Zelenskyy, a staged, symbolic membership isn’t sufficient. Ukraine “deserves full membership in the European Union” – and quickly, he told reporters in Kyiv recently.

Importunate demands by Zelenskyy have gotten him into trouble before —not only with U.S. President Donald Trump, but with highly sympathetic leaders. In 2022, Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, reportedly lost his temper with the Ukrainian leader when Zelenskyy demanded even more assistance after the U.S. leader had just finished telling him he’d approved an additional $1 billion in military aid.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in February, Zelenskyy surprised European leaders by rebuking them in harsh terms for not doing enough to help Ukraine — nor, for that matter, enough for their own defense. “Too often in Europe, something is more urgent,” he said. “Europe loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action today.”

Coming on the heels of another sharp critique of European leaders from Trump, Zelenskyy’s scolding left many in his audience stunned — and irritated. “It was quite surprising,” agreed Natia Seskuria, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Zelenskyy is unhappy with the way in which the support has been mobilized by the Europeans.”

“With the Americans, Zelenskyy is almost ready to wash his hands of them and pretty close to saying ‘we’re done with the Trump administration,’” a former Zelenskyy adviser said. “As long as they sell Patriot missiles to the Germans to give to us, that’s okay. But with the Europeans, there’s mounting frustration because we’re fighting for Europe, we’re doing this for the Europeans and to be part of Europe, and the Europeans still don’t have their act together.”

“The US-EU rift has pretty much emboldened Zelenskyy to ratchet up his rhetoric,” he added.

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