Zelenskiy’s Bid for Asian Support Falls Flat
Smaller nations like the Philippines, Singapore and Timor-Leste need more than a simple appeal for democracy.
The Taylor Swift of foreign policy.
Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg
Rockstar entrances are designed to demand attention, and that is precisely what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s did when he arrived at the Shangri-La hotel to attend the premier Asian defense summit in Singapore. In his trademark green T-shirt and military trousers, flanked by bodyguards, it was as if the Taylor Swift of defense and security had descended onto the foreign policy stage.
He’d come to sell the idea that Asia needs to join Ukraine in its life-or-death fight for democracy against autocracy. But his pitch fell flat. Perhaps it was always destined to fail: Zelenskiy and his Western partners have long ignored that Asia could provide support to Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war. It is now too little, too late.