Maybe if the Zelensky gets 98% of the vote like Putin.
Then that would be an acceptable mandate?
Since democracy is a high priority for you.
American democracy matters to me, sure. Ukrainian democracy is a Ukrainian problem. Democracy is premised on a shared civic spirit, to resolve disputes with all abiding by the vote, and the post war period has shown how that can't be forced on a population. Its not an ethos natural to european nations or asia or africa. You give a bunch of muslims true representation and they form a caliphate. Give the gazans and west bank the right to vote in the knesset and the jews would all be dead in a couple months. And right now the krauts are still arguing whether to ban the AfD or just try to stifle the will of the people by continuing to blockade the 2nd biggest party from all branches of power. Most of european history was ruled by aristocracies and monarchies, I don't blame them.
But I guess the difference here is: Zelensky never held any vote including east Ukraine. The last time all Ukrainians east and west voted together, they elected Yanukovych. Now Zelensky doesn't even hold elections in the west lmao. The referendums in east Ukraine just reflected the obvious and overwhelming sentiment of a people who were already in open warfare against the west. Ethnic Russians who were being shelled by the west voted to secede from the west, and eventually to willingly join Russia. All of which makes perfect sense for their self-interest.
So tell me what is the legitimacy of a dictator in a failed west Ukrainian junta claiming sovereignty over the eastern oblasts that his regime has never held for a day. He failed to take them by force, they were violently disenfranchised by the revolution. Putin publicly tried to negotiate a diplomatic solution prior to the invasion that would have given the DPR/LPR a degree of autonomy while still formally remaining within Ukraine's borders, which is sure a hell of a better deal than we're negotiating with him right now. Macron held a phone call in which he dismissed Russia's premise and declared separatists can't dictate terms and the west held the sole sovereign claim to all the borders (that it didn't control). Now Macron is off sulking and trying to vie for a seat at the table while the grownups slice up the country. Maybe he should have sent brigitte