Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must answer for a damaging diplomatic disclosure, while U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for new leadership raises difficult questions about Kyiv’s future. Zelenskyy’s increasingly strained relations with international partners highlight a fundamental problem of leadership: a country fighting for survival cannot afford to squander the trust of those whose support it needs. The Ukrainian president’s disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to South Korea has triggered a serious diplomatic dispute with Seoul. His subsequent confrontation with Trump over Russian diesel supplies has further exposed the dangers of personalizing diplomacy and treating allies’ concerns as secondary to political messaging. On Sept. 23, Zelenskyy announced at the United Nations General Assembly that Ukraine had sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea. Seoul maintains that both governments had clearly understood the transfer would remain confidential because of the potential danger to the POWs and their families. K