Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s acting chops were apparent during his historic address to a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday night, according to former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, who drew a parallel to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s ability to capture audiences.
“We should remember that [Zelenskyy] was an actor,” Petraeus told Fox News Digital. “He knows how to do this. Just as Ronald Reagan was the great communicator, Zelenskyy is as well.”
President Ronald Reagan was dubbed “the great communicator” by his supporters.
(Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
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But Zelenskyy’s career as an entertainer prior to being elected president does not undermine his credibility, Petraeus said.
“You can’t fake this,” he said. “We used to occasionally observe about leaders in combat and so forth that if they don’t really love soldiers, they can’t fake it forever. Sooner or later, it’s very evident whether someone is truly sincere or not.”
Zellenskyy’s charisma “enabled his sincerity to come through in an even more compelling and powerful manner,” Petraeus said.
“In the same way that I think Ronald Reagan was enabled by his acting career to very sincerely and powerfully convey particularly important points during the final years of the Cold War that, in large measure, was brought to an end because of the efforts in his administration and then the one that followed,” he added.
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Wednesday marked Zelenskyy’s first trip outside of Ukraine since the invasion began 10 months ago. Petraeus said it was an important gesture to the United States, a country that “more than all the others put together” has enabled Zelenskyy and his forces to defend their country.
Zelenskyy’s address came the night before the Senate passed its $1.7 trillion spending bill, which includes more than $45 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
“We must enable the Ukrainians … together with our NATO allies and other Western partners, to hasten the moment where President Putin recognizes that this is not sustainable either on the battlefield or on the home front,” Petraeus said.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, awards a serviceman at the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian invaders in Bakhmut, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2022.
(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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The extra $45 billion in aid could carry Ukraine’s defense through the bulk of 2023 in a fight that “is about as close to right versus wrong as it possibly gets,” he said.
“This is democracy versus autocracy or kleptocracy or dictatorship,” Petraeus said. “Yes, the Ukrainian democracy was far from perfect. But again, this is really the West versus the East. It is the principles that we treasure: sovereignty, territorial integrity and the rest.”
To hear more of Petraeus’ thoughts on Zelenskyy’s speech, click here.
