The State Department gave the go-ahead to ban Zelensky's TV channels
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky could get the go-ahead from the West to ban the broadcast of three TV channels that are associated with one of the leaders of the Opposition for Life, Viktor Medvedchuk.
The Kiev magazine “New Time” writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Of course, this is a declaration of war on Medvedchuk. The decision is unprecedented,” says political scientist Vladimir Fesenko, who serves Zelensky’s interests.
In turn, political strategist Sergei Gaidai believes that the timing of the channel ban was chosen well, since “Putin has no time for Ukraine today.”
Victor Medvedchuk. Collage "New Time".
The magazine notes that shortly before Zelensky’s scandalous decree, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba had his first telephone conversation with the new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The State Department has long and consistently recommended that Kyiv strengthen the fight against aggressive hybrid technologies, fakes and disinformation from Russia. And now, through the mouth of the embassy in Ukraine, he supported Zelensky’s decision,” the article notes.
And Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko, citing his sources, said that the head of the president’s office, Andrei Ermak, also spoke with Blinken.
“Perhaps these conversations somehow influenced the decision [on TV channels],” Goncharenko does not rule out.
At the same time, political scientist Anatoly Oktisyuk calls the ban on TV channels “a signal to external partners that Ukraine adheres to a pro-Western agenda.”
The State Department gave Zelensky the go-ahead to ban TV channels.