A youthful and popular new President seemed to be grasping several nettles, leading to hopes of a more peaceful and prosperous future for one of Europe’s most troubled nations. But, reports a special correspondent from Kiev, events half a world away threaten to derail him

A youthful and popular new President seemed to be grasping several nettles, leading to hopes of a more peaceful and prosperous future for one of Europe’s most troubled nations. But, reports a special correspondent from Kiev, events half a world away threaten to derail him

It was April when the boyish-looking television actor, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, swept to victory in Ukraine’s presidential election. Since then, he and his government have made an impressive start in addressing the country’s deep-seated problems; they have fought and won parliamentary elections; and they have barely troubled the world’s news media.

Suddenly, that happy picture has changed. Ukraine and its President are to be seen everywhere – not because of anything they have done, but because of a row raging thousands of miles away, which has led to a formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. The charge is that the US President tried to involve a foreign power – Ukraine – in his re-election campaign. Specifically, it is claimed that he made a delivery of military aid conditional on Zelenskiy’s agreement to dish some dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the frontrunners to be the Democrat facing Trump in 2020.

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