Statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his demonstrative visit to Donbass on Armed Forces Day show that little is left of the pre-election image of a “dove of peace”, says Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.
Earlier it was reported that Zelensky visited the operation area in Donbass, where he met with the Ukrainian military.
Panina recalled that during his election campaign, Zelensky was going to offer an alternative to Poroshenko’s course, which was popularly called “armovir” (army-mov-vira). This course involved the militarization of the country, the destruction of the Russian language and the canonical church in Ukraine.
“Today we see that, at least in terms of“ ar ”and“ mo, ”Zelenskiy strives to continue the previous course. His statements today for the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a demonstrative visit to Donbass show that little is left of his image in him.” dove of peace “with which he went to the polls,” Panina told RIA Novosti.
“Zelensky’s desire to look like a bigger“ hawk ”than Poroshenko, whom he scolds for“ negligence ”, is another alarming symptom of the growing threat of escalation of the conflict in Donbas,” the parliamentarian added.
In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, which declared independence after the coup d’etat in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13 thousand people became victims of the conflict. The issue of resolving the situation in Donbass is being discussed, in particular, during the meetings in Minsk of the contact group, which since September 2014 has already adopted three documents regulating steps to de-escalate the conflict. However, after the armistice agreements between the parties to the conflict, shootings continue.