| The Ukrainian President’s trajectory is often cast as surprising, but what makes the former comic compelling as a political leader is his talent for exposing the crux of the matter.  Photograph by Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech before Congress last night required a careful balancing act. He “took care not to put members of Congress on the defensive,” Masha Gessen writes, in a perceptive analysis not only of Zelensky’s visit to the U.S. but of the geopolitical tensions and hypocrisies that it exposed. “He is a performer always keenly aware of his audience, and this time he was speaking to people who have the power to save his country or doom it by withholding aid.” That Zelensky, the bearer of a stern and sometimes critical message, was valorized by members of Congress—many of whom appeared plainly starstruck—is a testament to his talents as a communicator, but also, Gessen argues, to the guilt among those in Washington who are mindful of the things this country has not yet chosen to do for those suffering in Ukraine. —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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