The decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on limiting the circle of persons who can make official statements about Kiev's international policy is directed against "chaos and initiative" in this area.

This was stated by Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.

“This is a decree that instead of chaos and initiative in foreign policy from bodies and officials who do not have the authority to do so, there comes a civilized order and implementation of the Constitution and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” he wrote on Facebook.

Kuleba explained that this law does not apply to comments on foreign policy issues.

“Various people, authorized to do so in the established manner, can and will comment on, come up with an explanation of foreign policy.

And attempts now to impose the opinion that the head of the presidential office or the speaker of the Foreign Ministry cannot give comments is a distortion of reality, "the head of the Foreign Ministry stressed.

On December 22, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decree No. 671/2021 entitled "Questions of coordination of the state's foreign policy activities", which limits the range of persons authorized to make official statements on the international agenda.

"Only the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine can make official statements and comments on Ukraine's foreign policy and initiatives of an international nature," the document says.

  • Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba

  • AFP

  • © John Macdougall

In addition, according to the decree, now all state bodies, when conducting foreign relations, must coordinate their position with the Foreign Ministry or make statements on foreign policy on behalf of the president, prime minister or foreign minister.

The document notes that the restrictions are introduced "in order to ensure the unity of the foreign policy of the state, to strengthen the coordination of the activities of state bodies in the field of foreign relations", as well as the proper implementation of international treaties.

"Streams of consciousness"

The inconsistency in statements made by Ukrainian officials has previously been criticized in Moscow.

So, in early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov characterized what was happening in Kiev as multidirectional "streams of consciousness."

“The Ukrainian leadership has as many people as there are opinions, and each of them can change it several times a day,” the Russian Foreign Minister stressed.

As an example, Lavrov cited the statement of the new head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Aleksey Reznikov, that "Ukraine should invite or has already invited the British, Canadians and Americans to the front line in Donbass."

“Two hours later he said that he would not be invited: apparently, the“ senior comrades ”explained that he had already gone completely overboard.

When describing similar processes, they say "stream of consciousness."

There are many multidirectional flows there, ”Lavrov said.

According to a RT source in the office of the President of Ukraine, the appearance of the mentioned decree is a forced measure that had to be taken due to statements by a number of officials and diplomats.

In particular, Kiev had to apologize for the statements of the Ambassador of Ukraine Andriy Melnik in Germany.

“He is not shy about publicly criticizing German politicians and generally doing unpredictable things.

Some ambassadors do not consult with the foreign minister.

But worst of all, it concerns the key countries for Ukraine, "- said the interlocutor of RT.

  • Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andriy Melnyk

  • © germany.mfa.gov.ua

Recall that in 2021, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany made a number of resonant statements: he criticized German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, declared Germany's "moral duty" to Ukraine for the return of Crimea and hinted at the return of Ukraine's nuclear status if it was not admitted to NATO. ...

At the same time, Melnik argued that Germany bears "historical responsibility" to the Ukrainian people and therefore should speed up the admission of Kiev to the North Atlantic Alliance without additional conditions.

In turn, a RT source at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the personnel problem in the foreign policy block of the government has acquired a systemic character.

“The level of training of Ukrainian diplomats and some ambassadors is extremely low.

They only worsen the image of Ukraine by making rash statements.

And it is up to the ministry or even the president to make excuses, ”said a representative of the foreign ministry.

And this applies not only to public statements, but also to informal meetings, added the interlocutor of RT.

“They all boil down to the fact that everything owes Ukraine - from loans to admission to the EU and NATO.

Some also manage to criticize the leadership of the country in which they work, which shock the diplomats who have already seen a lot.

Zelensky specially issued a public decree, because other measures no longer work, ”the official explained.

"Impudence" and "creativity"

The day before the signing of the new decree, Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the conference of the ambassadors of Ukraine, which took place in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Addressing the participants in the event, Zelensky said that the country's foreign policy needs "speed, creativity, ambition and efficiency."

According to the President of Ukraine, Kiev seeks to unblock the peace process in Donbass as soon as possible, return Crimea, achieve EU membership in the coming years and get "a very clear time horizon from NATO."

“We should not wait for someone to solve our problems for us, but seek and propose new mechanisms, new formats every day.

Each of you must go beyond the traditional political plane.

Think about how we can help our state, Ukraine, apart from the usual daily calls for maintaining sanctions or joining NATO.

I really look forward to such formats, I really look forward to your initiative ideas, ”Zelensky said.

At the same time, at the beginning of October, during a meeting with the deputies of the ruling Servant of the People party, the president said that without “impudent” international politics, no one would notice the country's progress.

However, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, expressed the opinion that with such a "brazen" foreign policy, the Zelensky administration is trying to cover up the discrepancy between ambitions and potential.

“The Kiev regime cannot offer the world anything that was declared and, incidentally, paid for many times by the West: the failure of reforms, the deepening internal split, the inability to preserve traditions and modernize the country.

So we decided to act in a Holokhvastian manner - by impudence to cover up disproportionate ambitions to potential, ”the diplomat emphasized.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the conference of ambassadors of Ukraine

  • AFP

In turn, a RT source in the Batkivshchyna party admits that there are no professionals in foreign policy left in Ukraine.

“For a long time no one has taken Ukraine's opinion seriously.

Biden talks to Putin about Ukraine, and Zelensky is not even invited to talk.

And why - they will tell everything after the fact.

Europe speaks for a long time about supporting Ukraine, and then they allow the construction of Nord Stream 2, which is extremely disadvantageous for Ukraine.

This is a complete failure of foreign policy.

And it doesn't matter who will say nonsense: the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany or the minister himself.

Ukraine has already tired everyone, so no one takes all these statements seriously, ”the MP admits.

Management crisis

Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAS, in a conversation with RT, suggested that by signing decree No. 671/2021 Zelensky hopes to bring his foreign policy more in line with the course of the West.

“This is beneficial to foreign sponsors who are now trying to escalate the situation around Ukraine, creating an image of an aggressor for Russia.

Against this background, the statements of any persons who question this propaganda, of course, undermine the authority of the Ukrainian administration.

And in order to eliminate such doubts, this document was signed, ”the expert noted.

In turn, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, said that the appearance of this decree actually demonstrates the inability of Zelensky and his entourage to lead the state apparatus, including its foreign policy direction.

“There is a systemic crisis of the Ukrainian statehood, which is now turning into a collapse of power.

During Zelensky's presidency, there is a constant change of ministers and other officials, there are constant conflicts within the ruling party, including the president with his closest associates, for example, with the former speaker Razumkov, "the political scientist recalled.

Now Zelensky has to issue special decrees in order to control the uncoordinated statements of various representatives of the authorities, the interlocutor of RT stated.

“He does not control his environment, which, as a result, leads to the absence of a unified policy in the government and the emergence of significant differences in the statements of the highest state officials.

Now Ukrainian politicians, including Zelensky, are better off being silent than talking, ”the expert said.

In addition, it is very difficult for the Ukrainian president and his entourage to grasp the change in the policy directions of their allies in the West, therefore situations arise in which certain statements of Ukrainian statesmen contradict each other, Shapovalov added.

“Thus, for Zelensky it is now important to limit the circle of persons who can express the position of the state on foreign policy issues.

And this testifies to the weakness of the president and the lack of solidarity in the Ukrainian political elites, ”the expert concluded.