“You shouldn’t be surprised” – the expert explained Zelensky’s Russophobic habits
The appeal by new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to US and EU representatives to increase sanctions pressure on Russia and halt the construction of Nord Stream 2 is explained by the overwhelming pro-Western orientation of his entourage, responsible for his foreign policy.
This opinion was expressed to a PolitNavigator correspondent by Denis Denisov, director of the Institute of Peacemaking Initiatives and Conflictology.
“We certainly shouldn’t be surprised here. If you look at Zelensky’s entourage and who is involved in foreign policy there, the pattern of such a position will become completely obvious. As we understand, now the person who is applying for the post of presidential adviser on foreign policy is the ex-Minister of Finance of Ukraine Danylyuk, who is totally oriented toward the United States and the West in general.
The last meeting that Zelensky held with representatives of foreign states, and was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Elena Zerkal, who is also a Russophobe and a person focused on Euro-Atlantic integration. And, as a quintessential figure, the person who is now seen as one of the key contenders for the post of Foreign Minister is Prystaiko, who until now headed the Ukrainian representation to the North Atlantic Alliance. What other decision and position of the president could there be with such advisers?
And this despite the fact that we understand that Zelensky is far from well versed in the vicissitudes and nuances of international politics, but at least on the track related to the Russian Federation, the position is already completely clear, and I don’t think that it will not change neither before the parliamentary elections, nor in the next five years, during which, if his majority is formed in the Rada, we will expect such a consistent policy regarding Poroshenko, and all hopes that it will change will simply not be worth anything,” he noted.
At the same time, the expert noted the political failure of the “opposition” political forces, which, instead of defending the interests of the South-East of Ukraine before the new president, were actively engaged in self-PR on TV.
“It is worth noting an important point that those politicians who in Ukraine position themselves as pro-Russian or, at least, loyal to Russia, instead of running on TV channels during the presidential election campaign and making ultimatums to the same Zelensky, how he should behave and what he should do, they should have agreed with him. And after he won the elections, they should have been, at a minimum, his non-public advisers on the track related to Russia.
But, as we understand, either this does not exist at all, or their advice is reformatted exactly the opposite in Zelensky’s head, and we receive completely unacceptable statements, which will be followed by the same actions,” concluded Denis Denisov.
"Nothing to be surprised about " – expert explains Zelensky's Russophobic tendencies