"The best salesman in history."
That's how Donald Trump once described Volodymyr Zelensky because of the amount of aid Ukraine received from America.
Whether the comparison is credible or not, Zelensky's role in keeping his country in the public eye and convincing allies to invest in it has certainly been crucial to Ukraine's struggle.
His transformation from popular comedian to wartime president is long overdue - dating back to 2022 when he decided to stay in Kiev while Russian troops advanced.
That decision meant that Ukraine would continue to defend itself to this day.
In the intervening years, I have stood across from him dozens of times, and Zelensky now exudes a more authoritative, perhaps war-torn personality, shaped in part by his increasing isolation on the international stage.
- Who is Vladimir Zelensky - he gave up television fame to become the president of Ukraine
- Who is Olena Zelenska - the first lady of Ukraine
- Russia and Ukraine: Three years of war in maps
But with the unpredictability of Trump's second term - and especially after their Oval Office clash in February - Zelensky may now have to change again.
Politically, it is no longer a story of the oppressor against the oppressed.
Instead, that story is clouded by the dual challenge of expressing an appetite for peace while simultaneously protecting his country's interests.
But will a man accustomed to so much power at home and so much influence abroad really implement another great transformation, shifting his focus to diplomacy in the Trump era?
Or will he decide that the best way to stand up for Ukraine is to be as intransigent as possible?
Watch: Trump and Zeleski's awkward conversation at the White House made history
'Very wise and calculating'
Zelensky will meet with the "coalition of the willing," a group of countries that have pledged to stand by Ukraine, at NATO headquarters, without America.
Before Trump's second chapter began, the Ukrainian leader lobbied effectively for Western support.
He demanded air defenses, tanks, missiles, and fighter jets from countries like Germany, which hesitated for fear of escalating the war before complying with his demands.
His message was strong and he was successful in securing support.
"Zelensky was very shrewd and calculating in the early days of the war," says Ed Arnold of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence and security think tank.
His decision to travel to the Munich Security Conference two weeks before the invasion, despite being warned that it would be a security risk, was crucial, Arnold says.
"It personalized support for Ukraine in the minds of people who attended in person."
Sergei Leshchenko, an advisor to Zelensky's cabinet, explains: "We need to be visible in the world."
"If public opinion is on Ukraine's side, we have a better chance of getting help from the international community."
Leshchenko points to Zelensky's daily video addresses, which he has introduced since the beginning of the invasion.
"It's unusual to be so open."
Ukraine's victory in the battle for Kyiv solidified Zelensky as a symbol of the country's survival and underscored his case for continuing to send military aid from Western allies.
Later in 2022, Zelensky was able to demonstrate the difference their shipments made when large swaths of Ukrainian territory were liberated, including the city of Kherson.
Initially, he had success with his European allies.
"They are personally invested in Zelensky and Ukraine."
"He has lived through four British prime ministers since the war began. And they have all signed new declarations with Ukraine, again through Zelensky."
"During his term, he managed to survive changes in national politics in Europe," Arnold says.
But when new successes failed to materialize, Zelensky's message did not change - and as time passed, it worked to his detriment.
After the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, for example, the justification for supporting Kiev increasingly began to be questioned by an influential minority of American Republicans, and new calls began to be heard from some circles.
Maria Zolkina, head of regional security and conflict studies at the Foundation for Democratic Initiatives, a Kiev-based think tank, believes Zelensky himself is partly responsible.
"He and his circles relied on the logic that they always had to demand something when talking to partners, insisting on the argument that Ukraine simply always needed something."
“That worked well in 2022, but with the US and others this type of message stopped working in 2023.”
"But his diplomacy simply didn't adapt quickly enough," she claims.
- Zelensky ready to step down as Ukrainian president in exchange for peace or NATO membership
- "Shock and Betrayal": Behind the Scenes of a Tough, Painful Week for Volodymyr Zelensky
- Trump calls Zelensky a 'dictator', says Russia has the upper hand
'Zelensky has never been a diplomat'
On September 2024, XNUMX, in a lobby in New York, things truly changed for Ukraine.
Only in this case, the driving force was not an oncoming Russian armored vehicle but the political reincarnation of Ukraine's greatest ally: America.
That day, a little over a month before the US presidential election, Zelensky held a last-minute meeting with Trump at Trump Tower.
Tensions between the two had been rising even before the meeting: Zelensky had claimed a few days earlier that Trump "doesn't know how to end the war," after saying he could do it "in one day."
After a meeting at Trump Tower in New York, the two appeared to be uncomfortable.
Despite stating that they "shared a view" about wanting to end the war, their body language suggested a lack of chemistry between them.
The two would not meet again until five months later in the Oval Office, where their now-famous encounter would become a diplomatic disaster for Kiev.
"Trump was supposed to like him," says Vadym Prystaiko, who was present when the two first met after Zelensky's 2019 election victory.
"Zelensky saw Trump more or less as similar to himself, as a media figure who had crossed over into politics, who was anti-establishment," he says.
Prystaiko was Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom before being dismissed in 2023.
Kiev has not provided an official explanation for his dismissal, but it came after Prystaiko criticized Zelensky's response to a dispute over gratitude for British military aid.
He said there was "a bit of sarcasm" in his president's reaction, which he believed was "unhealthy."
"Zelensky has never been a diplomat."
"He was never the usual political leader who kisses babies and shakes hands with people," Prystaiko adds.
A 'turbulent' relationship
"The relationship with Trump is turbulent, like a death rollercoaster ride."
"Sometimes there is constructive cooperation, and then, suddenly, some kind of crisis occurs," says Vladimir Fesenko, director of the Penta Center for Political Studies.
And then a war of words ensues.
Trump accused Zelensky of starting the war, calling him a "dictator," while the Ukrainian leader accused his American counterpart of "living in a Russian world of disinformation."
While Fesenko believes that Zelensky is constantly changing tactics to find a working relationship with Washington, Zolkina believes that the problems lie deeper.
"There is a triangle between the US administration, the Kremlin and Kiev."
"Ukraine is considered the weaker side of that triangle. For Trump, Zelensky is not in the same class, and that is a problem," she argues.
When it comes to today's infamous meeting with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office, it was the first time I've seen Zelensky seemingly left without a political response while being accused of "not showing enough gratitude" and "playing with World War III."
His defensive body language, like his hand-wringing, also seemed like something new.
Zelensky has always seemed relaxed while welcoming or visiting other leaders.
He is calm on stage and often uses well-timed humor – but this was something completely different.
The minerals agreement, in which Zelensky initially proposed a share of Ukraine's mineral wealth in exchange for continued military support, was never signed, and has since turned into a less favorable proposal for Kiev.
America also briefly suspended military aid and intelligence sharing to ensure that Ukraine continued to dance to its tune.
But the official position of some is that the Oval Office meeting was not a tragedy.
"Nobody saw it as the end of anything," says Ihor Brusilo, deputy chief of staff to the president, who traveled to the White House with Zelensky.
"We talked about how to move forward. It wasn't a disaster."
When US National Security Advisor Mike Walz told them the meeting was over, "we just shrugged and decided to go back to the hotel," he recalls.
"My impression is that on a personal level, Trump and Zelensky got along well," he adds.
"They understand each other better and are honest and open."
Whatever the truth about their relationship behind closed doors, there were signs of Zelenskyy softening after that meeting - it is said that he was then persuaded by his European allies to take a more conciliatory tone, due to the inescapable truth that they, Ukraine, still need America to fight an aggressive Russia.
However, others argue that even more concessions are needed.
- Why does Trump want lithium from Ukraine when he has it in America?
- Ukraine and America reach agreement on rare minerals, say Kyiv
- Trump thinks like Putin: Are we witnessing the end of the liberal order?
'It is very difficult to get Zelensky to give in'
"War changes everyone, it has changed us all in some way."
"But I don't think Zelensky has fundamentally changed - for better or for worse in some cases," says Olga Onukh, professor of Comparative and Ukrainian Politics at the University of Manchester.
"It is very obvious that certain actors have realized that it is very difficult to negotiate with Zelensky. Why? Because he has boundaries that he does not cross and he adheres to them."
Brusilo agrees with that.
"It's very difficult to get Zelensky to give in."
"It's like looking at a spring, the more you bend it, the more resistance it has," he says.
And yet, whenever Ukraine was attacked, politically or diplomatically, increased political unity followed.
The Oval Office standoff was no exception, with Zelensky's support soaring to around 70 percent.
"Zelensky is very powerful, and his authority consists of himself and a certain circle of people," Zolkina claims.
Orisiya Lucevich, head of the Ukrainian Forum at Chatham House, says it's interesting how Ukrainians sided with Zelensky after the Oval Office, almost as if they saw it as a personal insult to Ukrainian statehood.
"People rally around him, around what he represents and how he behaves."
Pristaiko claims that if the Americans wanted to replace him, "they were shooting themselves in the foot because now he could easily be re-elected."
Some political experts, like Zolkina, don't think it's that certain.
"I don't think he understands that this surge in support is a direct reaction to what Trump is doing, not his personal position," she says.
"He has quite strong political ambitions for a second term and is quite politically egocentric, like all leaders at his level."
Professor Onuh does not believe that Zelensky is motivated solely by the struggle for political power.
"He is a more careful, thoughtful, and tactically oriented political actor than people give him credit for."
However, imagining a second term for Zelensky could be very difficult, simply because of the sheer demands of the job.
Even the post-war challenges would be considerable.
For now, Arnold suspects that an exhausted Zelensky might not want to run again and suggests that he may be looking for a way out of, at least, the front lines of political life.
In the short term, Zelensky cannot afford another Oval Office.
So, given that Trump is an avid golfer, will the Ukrainian leader ever join him for a game of golf?
"He's a quick learner."
"When the need arises to play golf, I'm sure he'll be up to the task," Brusillo says.
- Putin's 25 years at the helm of Russia: Has he managed to take care of it?
- Who is Vladimir Putin
- Trump bows to Putin - will this cause a rift between Russia and China?
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
Bonus video:
