Curtailing aid to Ukraine will only prolong the war, Mr Zelensky argues. And it would create risks for the West in its own backyard. There is no way of predicting how the millions of Ukrainian refugees in European countries would react to their country being abandoned. Ukrainians have generally “behaved well” and are “very grateful” to those who sheltered them. They will not forget that generosity. But it would not be a “good story” for Europe if it were to “drive these people into a corner”.
Oof. "Subtly" threatening allies that the refugees they accepted (usually with very generous arrangements to make it easier to get in) might become a threat unless Ukraine receives continuing support doesn't sound like a smart move.
But it's not exactly a threat is it? It's a very reasonable observation about how Ukrainian refugees might feel and behave.
Wouldn't you feel the same way? Your country gets invaded, you flee to a generous supporting friendly country. That country stops being supporting, and your chances to return home start to vanish. You didn't choose to be here. Now you're stuck in a foreign country that you feel could be doing more to fight injustice and give you a chance to return home.
He's the president of a democracy, not a mind controller. People will feel a certain way. He's simply observing this potential situation, as a warning to the allies not to slide into complacency.
I see it less as a threat that they will do something in that country, it is that they will want to leave and go back to fight for Ukraine and they will be no longer working in the country they went to, if these countries were getting labor from the refugees then they will lose that as they leave.
Ukraine is looking for soldiers so it shouldn't be a problem.