Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Is A Diplomat Of Historic Proportions

Isabelle Khurshudyan and David L. Stern, writing for The Washington Post:

Ukraine knew Flight 752 had been shot down, but it was careful not to antagonize Iran […]

Ukraine wanted its investigators to gather hard evidence of their own to prove that a missile had downed the plane, Danilov said, suggesting that their work ultimately pressured Iran into accepting responsibility. They were also careful to avoid sharp criticism of Iran during this time to ensure its cooperation in the probe. […]

“Once again, Zelensky walked a thin diplomatic balance beam and came out without falling flat on his face,” said Nina Jankowicz, a scholar at the Wilson Center. “For a political novice, he seems to have a keen sense of exactly how to appease opposing factions in order to protect Ukraine’s interests.”

The United States shouldn’t need to look to Ukraine for an example of how to conduct diplomacy, but the Commander in Cheeto needs to grab his magic marker and take some notes.

Props to Zelensky for dealing with Iran responsibly in the wake of a tragedy that could’ve easily led to war; we can all exhale a bit, now. Let’s not forget that while the plane that Iran shot down was mostly carrying Iranian passengers, there were also Brits, Canadians, Germans, and Swedes onboard. This could’ve been an international disaster for the U.S.

Handled poorly, this event could’ve gone down very similarly to the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the event that kickstarted the First World War). Ferdinand’s assassination likely would’ve been of relatively little historical significance had a multitude of powerful nations not gotten involved to protect their smaller allies, but that’s not how things went down. What started out as a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia dramatically escalated at each turn, until it had quickly devolved into the most devastating war humanity had ever experienced. The international alliances of 1914 were positioned in such a way that just a handful immeasurably impactful decisions lied between peaceful resolution and The Great War. Fast forward 105 years, and Zelensky found himself having to make a similarly impactful decisions, and he made the right call.