War fatigue is spreading in the UN General Assembly: Zelensky’s magic is gone

Zelensky gives a perfect speech, but no one wants to hear it

When Selenski took over the lectern on Tuesday, this secret suspicion was confirmed. The Ukrainian president could not have given a better speech: The good world community against a pariah state that endangers the legal and international order of the world.

That was the almost psychologically perfect story that Zelensky told in New York. But the enormous hall was empty for the third time; other events took place. “Evil cannot be trusted,” he ended his fiery speech. Polite applause from the group, then it’s the next person’s turn, the President of Guatemala.

A stark contrast to last year. At that moment, Zelensky appeared virtually, using an oversized video recording projected in the room. He was praised as a hero in front of a packed audience. It was an event, the war was seven months old, the horror was still fresh. There is no trace of that today; Zelensky’s magic has evaporated.

How do you combat war fatigue?

Zelensky knows this, that’s why he’s in New York. “He wants to convince skeptical countries,” one of his advisers told Spiegel. And apparently there are more and more of them. The faltering counter-offensive, the constant demand for more weapons, the impression that Ukraine is not grateful enough for the help it has received. There are many reasons to be war-weary.

Of course, the majority of UN members still support Ukraine. But: there are ‘other issues’, according to Western diplomatic circles. Topics other than Ukraine. Topics that have shaped the United Nations General Assemblies for years: hunger, climate crisis, sustainability.

Russia waits – and doesn’t show up

Representative of this is the speech of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65). He addresses dozens of other concerns in his speech – Germany’s UN anniversary, UN reform, climate change – before briefly mentioning Ukraine at the end: “Russia is responsible for this war.” That is it.

War fatigue is Zelensky’s Achilles heel – and Russia knows it. The aggressor has been counting on this since the beginning of the war: that Ukraine’s allies will grow tired and no longer have the desire to push for a diplomatic end. Almost demonstratively, the Russian delegation did not appear in the large UN hall on Tuesday.