Comedian Vladimir Zelensky, who won a victory in the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine on March 21, world leaders began to congratulate even before the official voting results were announced.
The first foreign leader to call him was French President Emmanuel Macron. The head of the Fifth Republic, who met with the Ukrainian artist a few days before the elections, managed to talk to Zelensky on April 21st.
Later there was information about the congratulations of the Polish leader Andrzej Duda, who invited Vladimir Zelensky to Poland, and after - about the call of the head of the American state Donald Trump. As noted in the statement of the White House, Trump said he was ready to work with Zelensky on reforms to strengthen democracy, improve the welfare of Ukrainians and fight corruption.
“The President wished him success and called the election an important moment in the history of Ukraine, noting the peaceful and democratic nature of the electoral process,” the Donald Trump administration said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was looking forward to working with a former humorist. In turn, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received Petro Poroshenko in Germany before the elections, responded only closer to noon on April 22. She not only voiced the traditional for the Western powers assurances that the support of Ukraine was unchanged, but also expressed a desire to see Zelensky soon in Berlin.
The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, also wanted to meet with the new Ukrainian leader, which they said in a joint letter. And NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, noted that he was waiting for continued cooperation with Ukraine.
They were joined by the heads of the CIS countries. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who had previously expressed confidence in the victory of Petro Poroshenko, said that “the activities of Vladimir Zelensky as the head of the state will contribute to the prosperity of Ukraine, the establishment of peace and civil harmony”. Moldavian leader Igor Dodon called Zelensky “Your Excellency”, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted in Ukrainian.
It is also reported that the victory over the election of Vladimir Zelensky was congratulated by the Acting President. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Austria Sebastian Kurz and Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen Shuang stressed that "China, as before, respects the choice of the Ukrainian people," reports RIA Novosti.
- Election poster in Lviv
- RIA News
According to the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, after processing 99.03% of the protocols, Zelensky receives more than 73.22% of the vote. For the current president, Petro Poroshenko, 24.46% of Ukrainians cast their votes.
"Judged by the case"
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told journalists on April 22 that “it’s premature to talk about the congratulations of President Putin to Mr. Zelensky, as well as the opportunity to work together.”
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“It will be possible to judge only in specific cases,” stated Peskov.
At the same time, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev emphasized in his Facebook account, although he does not have “any illusions” about Zelensky, there are “chances of better interaction” with Russia.
“What is needed for this? Honesty. And we also need a pragmatic and responsible approach. An approach that takes into account all the political realities in Ukraine. Including, above all, the situation in the east of the country, ”wrote Medvedev.
In turn, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, wished Zelensky "good luck in noble deeds aimed at the revival of Ukraine and the unity of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples!"
“If he has such intentions,” Kadyrov added.
Note that Vladimir Zelensky has already managed to congratulate a number of representatives of the Russian show business, including Maxim Galkin, Sergey Zverev, Nikolai Baskov, Dima Bilan and Natasha Korolev.
As Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Foundation for Progressive Politics, noted in a conversation with RT, Zelensky will have to reckon with Russia's interests in one way or another when conducting his foreign policy.
- Ukrainian military in Donetsk region
- Reuters
- © Gleb Garanich
“It’s not worth waiting for the rapid warming of Ukraine’s relations with Russia, but their pragmatization and withdrawal from patriotic hysteria into the plane of cold calculation are possible,” said Bondarenko.
At the same time, according to the expert, if Zelensky decides to move towards the implementation of the Minsk agreements, he may face a powerful nationalist opposition within the country.
“The time for jokes is over”
World media reports that the new president is a “dark horse,” and his victory promises Ukrainians and the world even more uncertainty about the fate of the country.
"Vladimir Zelensky won the presidential election, the country takes a leap into the unknown," says Le Monde.
“After the comedian’s victory in the presidential election, Ukraine is entering a new, unknown to her era,” Reuters warns.
“WITHOUT JOKE: President of Ukraine, most likely, will be a comedian winning by a large margin with no political experience,” notes British The Sun.
“In Ukraine, the time for jokes is over,” believes Politico, in turn. The publication notes that "Ukrainians are fed up with war and status quo." According to one of the columnists of the publication: “Zelensky, like his predecessors, will find it hardest to figure out how to dismantle a system based on the redistribution of wealth (to an extreme degree) in favor of the rich, when private monopolies headed by oligarchs reduce the role of the state to the utmost possible”.
The author of the publication on the website of the German TV channel Das Erste, Demian von Osten, warns Zelensky: you do not need to repeat Poroshenko’s mistakes and give Ukrainians unfulfilled promises, especially when the country has the task of joining NATO and the EU.
The author of the German-language publication claims that the Kremlin allegedly could exploit Zelensky’s inexperience and return Ukraine "to its sphere of influence." The correspondent of the British television channel Sky News Diana Magnei also suggests that Vladimir Putin "will try to use Zelensky's inexperience." Both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post warn of Moscow’s “interference”.
Deutsche Welle columnist Bernd Johann emphasizes, in turn, that Zelensky will have difficult months ahead of parliamentary elections, and the new president may have time to quickly disappoint Ukrainians. The question of the influence on the election winner by the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky remains unresolved, Deutsche Welle said.
According to Canadian international security specialist Michael Botsyurkiv, which he expresses on CNN, one of the main tasks that will face the new Ukrainian leader is to resolve the situation in Donbass and the question of returning Ukrainian sailors home arrested during the incident in the Kerch Strait in November. last year. But “patriotic” Ukrainians, who may not like the negotiations with Russia, can also be a problem, the expert said.
The New York Times in the article “The star of tele-comedies Vladimir Zelensky easily bypassed the president,” notes:
“It seems that after five years of an exhausting war with Russia’s protesters in eastern Ukraine, voters have made it clear that they are more concerned about internal threats, such as corruption and poverty. They ignored Mr. Poroshenko’s warning that giving a vote for a comedian is “not funny” and fraught with “painful” consequences, which he expressed on Sunday after he voted in the elections. ”
The publication calls Zelensky “the first Jewish leader” of Ukraine and claims that his election as president dismisses “Russian propaganda” about the growth of anti-Semitism in this country.
However, the Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post in the article “Ukraine will become the only country except Israel, where the President and the Prime Minister are Jews” notes: the fact of the growth of anti-Semitic incidents in Ukraine under Poroshenko is documented in detail. In addition, the author of the publication Knaan Lifshits emphasizes that, despite his origin, Zelensky recently quite restrainedly spoke about the "Nazi collaborator", the leader of the OUN-UPA * Stepan Bandera, calling him "a hero for some Ukrainians."
“In the presidential campaign itself, there was a place for some manifestations of anti-Semitism,” the newspaper stresses.
In turn, Yuan Quan, an analyst with the Chinese edition of Guancha, notes that one of the main problems of Ukraine under Zelensky can be clearly expressed in the speeches of the new leader “psychology of dependency”, too high hopes for the West. At the same time, in the opinion of a political analyst from the PRC, relations between Moscow and Kiev can improve, which will lead to a warming of Ukraine’s relations with Beijing.
“Studied and evaluated”
“Russia's influence in Ukraine is a figure of speech,” said Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, in an interview with RT.
According to the political analyst, statements by foreign media that Russia can take advantage of Zelensky’s coming to power are a tool of the information war against our country.
“The Americans have completely got into Ukrainian affairs and in many respects dictate what to do. Therefore, the more the United States climb there, the louder they shout about the influence of Russia, ”the political scientist believes. In his opinion, the comedian simply could not become the president of Ukraine without approval from Washington.
“Certainly, where necessary, it was studied and evaluated,” the expert believes. - Of course, the broad masses and journalists in the west do not know him, he gave little interview to the more Western press. But those who need it - they know, and they gave the go-ahead so that he became the president of Ukraine. ”
In turn, Bondarenko believes that Vladimir Zelensky "is a" dark horse "not only for Ukrainians, Russia and, of course, for the West, but also for himself, because he has never been president."
The expert notes that some Western countries, for example, Germany, were not ready to elect a comedian as a Ukrainian leader. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, managed to build a personal relationship with him even before the elections.
- Vladimir Zelensky meets with Emmanuel Macron
- Reuters
“Most likely, the first country of his visit, Vladimir Zelensky, will choose either Washington or Paris,” believes Bondarenko. - Especially since Emmanuel Macron was the only world leader who invited Vladimir Zelensky to visit. Probably, they have something in common - an unexpectedly quick political take-off, when a person who has never participated in big politics, suddenly takes up points and in a matter of months becomes the leader of the country. ”
* “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA) is a Ukrainian organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 11/17/2014).