With Donald Trump currently working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure a ceasefire agreement in the Ukraine war, the man with whom Trump had an infamous blowup in the Oval Office just a couple of weeks ago is cautiously waiting to see what unfolds.

That man is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been lionized as a Churchillian figure for his daring stand against Putin and his mighty Russian army, inspiring his countrymen to fight.

Early on, that was certainly understandable. But as the war and its growing costs to the West, specifically the U.S., have grown, some of that admiration has waned, replaced with a growing sense of distrust and even criticism of Zelensky as more of a dictator than freedom fighter.

For evidence of this rather jarring charge, some Zelensky critics have pointed to the fact that since Russia’s invasion three years ago, Ukraine has been in a state of martial law, and as such, the nation has held no elections. Despite the fact that Ukraine’s constitution forbids holding elections during war, the charge is that Zelensky is more interested in continuing the war than pursuing peace because it keeps him in power. Furthermore, it keeps the money and military aid from European countries and the U.S. flowing in.

When Trump accused Zelensky of being a dictator who “should have never started” the war, it had more to do with Trump’s frustration in getting Zelensky on board with an agreement for a potential ceasefire and a path toward ending the bloody conflagration.

Zelensky won the presidency in 2019 in an election that the West and the U.S. recognized as free and fair. But just over two years into his term, Russia launched its invasion, and Ukraine understandably has been under martial law ever since.

There is no solid evidence to suggest that Zelensky is running a dictatorship. However, when it comes to Russia, there is ample evidence pointing to the fact that Putin has rigged the electoral system to keep himself in power. Oh, Russia may hold “elections,” but everyone knows who the victor will be because Putin ensures that no serious rival has even a remote chance of winning. In fact, rivals have an unnerving habit of dying sudden and untimely deaths. The most recent example is Alexei Navalny, who conveniently died in a Siberian prison at the age of 47 in February 2024. He was imprisoned in the first place because he dared to organize and voice opposition to Putin.

The point is that when comparing Zelensky to Putin, the real bad guy is self-evident for anyone honestly looking at the records of the two men. This is not to say that Zelensky is a great leader with no nefarious motives, but compared to Putin, he clearly stands out as the better man.

Furthermore, it seems clear that Zelensky’s primary reason for pressing the fight has everything to do with being a man who loves his country and is committed to defending her. Who can fault him for doing everything he can to gain weaponry and money for his country to fight against the massive Russian war machine?

Zelensky has expressed that he’s willing to resign from the presidency if doing so would guarantee peace for Ukraine or NATO membership. Those aren’t the sentiments of a dictator.

As more evidence, days after Zelensky and Trump’s unprecedented public blowup in the Oval Office, Zelensky swallowed his pride and reached back out to Trump with an apology and a willingness to sign a mineral rights deal as a step toward peace.

In so doing, not only was Zelensky forced to give up his long-voiced defiant stance that he would fight until all of Ukraine’s territory was restored, but he also had to admit that, as Trump noted, he just didn’t have the cards to keep fighting indefinitely.

From America’s perspective, the objection to continuing to supply and fund a bloody and seemingly unwinnable war for Ukraine is simply not tenable. Americans are tired of wars. One of Trump’s biggest campaign points was that he didn’t get the U.S. involved in any new wars.

Trump wants peace. Yes, the U.S. has not lost any territory to an aggressive neighbor, but the truth is that the U.S. is not an official ally of Ukraine. And the longer this conflict goes, the more potential there is for it to escalate into a much larger and deadlier war that could result in the U.S. being sucked into a potential World War III.

Trump is doing the right thing in seeking to end the war, even though it would result in Ukraine effectively losing while Putin’s aggression gets rewarded. For the preservation of Ukraine as it currently stands as an independent nation and to prevent NATO and the U.S. from being dragged into a much larger conflict, an unsatisfying ceasefire that stops the killing is the least bad option.

Thankfully, Zelensky has come around to this reality. The question is whether Putin will be satisfied with what he’s taken or whether he will continue to press the fight, hoping for more concessions. Time will tell.

To answer the initial question, Zelensky is a man passionate about preserving his nation from enslavement to a ruthless dictator. That, at least, is laudable.