How Zelensky Can Help Ukraine

My most vivid memory of Volodymyr Zelensky’s campaign for president of Ukraine was his debate with President Petro Poroshenko in April 2019. Mr. Poroshenko, a tycoon who made his fortune in chocolate, talked patriotically about the army, language and faith. Mr. Zelensky, a hugely popular comedian and actor who played a fictional president on TV, shot back that he was an outsider ready to break the system. His gruff energy and charisma easily outshone Mr. Poroshenko. Days later, the presidency was his.

One wonders if he’s ever wished he could just give it back.

Different sides of the war in Ukraine reach for different, simple narratives about Mr. Zelensky. He is the hero who stayed in Ukraine when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, or he is the thin-skinned “dictator without elections.” The truth has always been more complicated: Mr. Zelensky is an imperfect leader of a fledgling democracy, and a former actor in the role of his life. At times he has seemed like the right man for the moment, at others he’s seemed in over his head.

After several difficult weeks with the Trump administration, including a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office and a pause in U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing, Mr. Zelensky has had a good few days. Ukraine has agreed to the terms of a 30-day cease-fire proposal, military aid and intelligence sharing are restored and the onus is now on Russia to accept or refuse — and show the world who is truly the barrier to peace.

After months of declining popularity in Ukraine, his approval ratings have risen — a new poll commissioned by The Economist this month suggests that 72 percent approve of his job performance, and that he would win an election if one were held today. This is an opportunity for him to take Ukrainians renewed faith in him, make critical reforms and demonstrate to the world what Ukraine could be if it’s given the chance.

In 2019 Mr. Zelensky promised Ukrainians he would root out corruption and take the country closer to Europe. In 2020 the Parliament passed an anticorruption bill, but in the months before the invasion Mr. Zelensky’s administration was accused of tolerating corruption and moving too slowly on reforms, particularly in the judiciary.

In wartime it has, on one hand, created independent defense procurement agencies, but on the other, reopened the door to single-source arms purchases, which are particularly vulnerable to corruption. And in February the Zelensky administration imposed financial sanctions on Mr. Poroshenko, now an opposition leader. The official reason was alleged “high treason” — but the move was criticized as being politically motivated.