Well, let's move on to Ukraine. There's a lot of news this week. Although, at the same time, there's little new. It happens.
Young President Zelensky flew to Paris to visit Macron. His statement that he wasn't going to negotiate directly with the LPR and DPR became the highlight of the trip. Well, just like Poroshenko.
President Zelensky: "We're not ready to have a direct dialogue with the separatists. We're ready to act in the Minsk format, continue our relationship, and cease fire".
From Paris, Zelensky flew to Berlin to visit Merkel. It was the same old tune. He begged that the sanctions against Russia remain in place and once again he spoke out against North Stream 2, exactly like Poroshenko. There's nothing new about that. To sum up, it means that, instead of the peace they had promised, the war will continue. And for Ukraine, it means high gas prices and high tariffs. Something like that.
Naturally, Putin was asked about Zelensky during the live broadcast of Direct Line. Putin started by recalling Zelensky taking part in a KVN improv comedy show.
Vladimir Putin: "He's a talented man indeed. I remember his performance at KVN in Moscow back in the 2000s. It was in the mid-2000s, as far as I remember. He was talented and funny".
It's understandable, as Zelensky directly addressed Putin back then.
- Quiet, everyone!
- Katya!
- Quiet! Can't you see? Now, I'm addressing the man who decides my... and not just mine — he decides the fate of all of Ukraine!
- Go on!
- Vladimir Vladimirovich... Vladimir Vladimirovich, take me, please! I'll owe you big time. I'm begging you!
It's really funny. "Take me. I'll owe you big time".
Putin, however, didn't stop at the recollection and shared his impressions of Zelensky in his new role.
Vladimir Putin: "It's not a comedy, it's a tragedy. And, since he found himself where he is now, since he became the head of state, he should solve these issues. All the more so that he often repeated it during his election campaign and, in fact, he made it the core of his entire election campaign. But what is happening now? When abroad, in Paris, as far as I remember, he stated that he wasn't going to talk with the separatists, as in, the representatives of the unrecognized republics. How is this problem to be solved then? Modern history doesn't know a single example of such conflicts being resolved without a direct duologue between the conflicting sides. It's just impossible. More than that, shelling coming from the Armed Forces of Ukraine has increased. During the election campaign, he said he was going to put a stop to it. He promised to stop the blockade, which is a direct violation of the Minsk agreements. The agreements include an obligation to restore economic ties between the LPR, the DPR, and Ukraine's entire economy. Nothing is being done, however. The blockade is only being increased. Nothing is happening. Meeting someone halfway is the easiest thing to do. The Ukrainian government needs to show the political will to do it".
The will to get any kind of result is lacking. It's been over a year since our colleague Kirill Vyshinsky was detained in Ukraine as a political prisoner after being absurdly accused of high treason without being convicted. Like many others, Kirill Vyshinsky still believes that the new team will do at least something.
Kirill Vyshinsky, RIA Novosti Ukraine: "I hope that the people who have gained power happen to be more reasonable, that they realize that my case, which is being discussed at many levels, including Brussels, the European Parliament, and the OSCE, is just a disgrace for the country".
He got that right. Have a look at how Vyshinsky's hands get placed behind his back. Then, he is placed in handcuffs. It's done on purpose to show that he's considered to be an extremely dangerous criminal. It's a disgrace!
Meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians expect a lot from Zelensky. Both his ratings and the ratings of his party, The Servant of the People Party, dwarf everyone else's. It even seems irrational. As even now, it's clear that his election promises aren't being fulfilled. On Thursday, here's how it was discussed by the co-chairman of the For Life opposition platform, a member of the Verhovnaya Rada, Vadim Rabinovich.
Vadim Rabinovich: "Listen, it's so clear! You’ve been elected for such and such slogans. Make them happen! You said, "Peace,"- that's what I've just heard - now, I'm reading that there will be no peace, that the Alliance is the best, that we want to join NATO, that we won't talk to Russia... Wake up, man! What have you been drinking in that building? What has Poroshenko left for you there?"
Further on, Vadim Rabinovich calls on Zelensky to just wipe his eyes and see the reality. The election for the Verkhovnaya Rada is due on the 21st of July.
Vadim Rabinovich: "The parliament that is being outlined today, where the majority belongs to the Zelensky party, which is unknown to anyone, 80% of which comprises of actors; in my opinion, this is insanity on a national scale. You see... Once we have a synthesis, you know... of young talented people who might have bright ideas with those who at least know how to work, something can work out. If we have nothing but talent, you all know far too well how we can end up".
The For Life Oppositional Platform party warns Ukraine against the decision to commercialize their land, considering it to be a Soros project, which will simply finish the country off. Since land is the last resource Ukraine has. As for the Ukrainian nationalists in power, they are running their numbers. Under the cover of patriotic mottos, they have already lost big chunks of the country as well as entire industries.
Vadim Rabinovich: "People! We should neither sell our land neither give out chunks of it to anyone. I'm just talking about the way our brains are being washed. "These are patriots," they say. The patriots whose actions led to losing a part of our territory, which had never happened in the previous 70 years. We killed the industry. We ruined our economy for the benefit of some so-called Soroses. We ruined the Carpathians. We ruined the retirees. We ruined the healthcare system. Why? Why? Why? Is this patriotism? Is this patriotism? Meanwhile, Medvedchuk, who goes to Moscow and asks to lower the price by 25%, is not a patriot. So, paying exorbitant prices is patriotic, while saving money isn't? Perhaps we need to have our heads checked?"
Actually, it makes one feel that many people are about to wake up and come back to their senses. Even the dissident patriarch Filaret has realized that he had been cheated in the story with the Istanbul tomos. On Thursday, in Kiev, Filaret gathered his own local council to restore his own so-called Kiev patriarchy and demanded the cathedrals and monasteries be returned back to him. They were handed to Istanbul Patriarch Bartholomew thanks to Pyotr Poroshenko's efforts. At the same time, Filaret emphasized that Poroshenko's church, the OCU, created at the end of last year, was neither canonical nor autocephalous. He says it's just nothing but lies.
"Don't call the OCU the canonical church, don't tell lies. It isn't recognized by other churches as a canonical one, it was recognized by nobody but the Ecumenical Patriarch. It has the tomos only by its title, while it's not autocephalous by its nature. Moreover, the OCU isn't recognized as canonical by 13 local churches. How can it be canonical when nobody but the Ecumenical Patriarch performs a service together with Metropolitan Epiphanius?"
This is how it is. Many things in Ukraine seem to be going backward.
