For the year in office, Vladimir Zelensky has not only failed to fulfill any of his election campaign promises, but also exacerbated the situation both inside the state and with regard to the existing armed conflict in Donbass, Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin commented to the Federal News Agency.
May 20, 2020 marks exactly a year of Vladimir Zelensky’s work in the Ukrainian presidential office. According to Denis Pushilin, it is the citizens of Ukraine who should assess Zelensky’s work, since they voted for him. Given that both his and pro-government political force’s ratings are rapidly declining, the Ukrainian nation is disappointed, to put it mildly.
“The facts show that for the year in office, Zelensky has not only failed to fulfill any of his election campaign promises, but also aggravated the situation both inside the state and with regard to the existing armed conflict in Donbass. Some oligarchic groups still have a powerful influence in the present-day Ukraine. They continue to fight among themselves for financial flows, including those coming from foreign creditors,” Denis Pushilin explained.
The DPR Head recalled the loud promises Zelensky made while still a candidate about investigations and exposures, all have fallen into oblivion. Now, he is making overtures to his opponents himself, realizing that he is losing credibility of the population. The government is deliberately deteriorating the welfare of the Ukrainian citizens.
“We also do not see any positive changes with regard to the conflict in Donbass. Like under Poroshenko, they issue the same ultimatums and assume the same destructive approach. Constructive dialogue has not find its place in the negotiating process under Ukraine’s current president, they do not really seek to negotiate with us,” Pushilin added.
The DPR Head believes that statements on the topic of the Minsk Agreements are tending to casuistry and populism, which sidetracks their meaning more and more.
“Just look at this new absurd idea to negotiate not with representatives of the second party to the conflict, but with people who all this time had nothing to do with Donbass, who left for Ukraine at the very beginning of hostilities. How can they discuss today’s problems of Donbass? It is much more important for Kiev to pretend they are taking part in the negotiations than to do that really,” Denis Pushilin said.
In his opinion, Ukraine is promising nothing good for the next year. Zelensky, like his entire team, is inconsistent when it comes to decision-making and cannot act independently.
“Zelensky has the blood of Donbass civilians, including children, on his hands. But that does not stop him. The frequency of attacks only increases, the rhetoric of Ukrainian representatives in the Minsk process does not change. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that the conflict will be settled peacefully any time soon,” Denis Pushilin concluded.