International Visibility
Volodymyr Zelensky played his high profile in Western media to the maximum, as a good comedian-politician ought. Generally, when Russia takes a bite off a small neighboring country, the world hardly notices, treating it as part of the rhythm of life, like floods, tornadoes, and elections.
Ukraine noted how apathetic the world response had been when Russia took Crimea.By 2022, Zelensky had changed that around. The phone call to Trump in 2019 was a media coup for Ukraine. Uncomfortable as it was, Zelensky himself emerged with his reputation unscathed, and suddenly everybody in the Western press was discussing arms sales to Ukraine. Ukraine, armaments, and the threat facing the region spent many news cycles in the “breaking news” chiron.
Zelensky got a lot of sympathy. His comic-president to real-president story became a very newsworthy narrative. He came over as an affable, reasonable man who was good at dancing and comedy, and all sorts of things that people in the Western world could relate to. Putin was taciturn, menacing, and unreadable. Zelensky would always win the popularity prize.
By the time the inevitable warfare broke out, Zelensky had won the international media war. There would be no traction for Pravda and company to put much positive spin on their actions. Ukraine propaganda had crushed it!