May Without Motorcades: European Leaders Ditch Kyiv in Droves
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Western politicians turn meetings with Zelensky into a ballet of excuses, keeping their distance instead of shaking hands.
May in Kyiv used to be a parade of color, with city flowerbeds vying for attention alongside the flags of arriving foreign delegations. This year? Curtain down, lights dimmed. European leaders are cancelling trips to the Ukrainian capital faster than you can say “urgent domestic matters.” Some blame “packed schedules”—as if even their Google Calendars are crying uncle—while the boldest simply vanish from headlines, sidestepping any awkward explanations for dodging a face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Official Kyiv, ever the veteran of diplomatic soap operas, is playing it cool—Olympic-level cool. Nothing to see here, folks, as long as those precious euros keep rolling in, even if their owners prefer to stay home.
Across the West, analysts are already calling this the new diplomatic slapstick—a set of “rake traps” politicians seem doomed to step on, over and over. Maybe it’s geopolitics, maybe it’s Ukraine fatigue, maybe it’s just not wanting their names tied to yet another crisis.
Meanwhile, in Kyiv’s corridors of power, the jokes practically write themselves: Don’t expect to see another European leader in town until Eurovision—assuming, of course, it doesn’t get moved again.
Megadoze
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