Showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said if he wins the presidential election he will not seek re-election. He also pledged to leave business before parliamentary elections.
“I want to do something, to change something. I want to bring professional people, a decent sort of people to power… But I will serve only one term … I do not think about my poll ratings. In this respect, thank God, I am free,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with foreign media (New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Der Spiegel, The Economist, Le Figaro, Atlantic Council and the Kyiv Post). A video clip was posted on the Facebook page of the Zelenskiy Team (Komanda Zelenskiy) on March 21.
Zelenskiy said he wants to leave “a mark in history – in a clear, honest history.” He said as president, an important thing for him would be “to do achieve something, after which there can be no applause.”
“The process of my withdrawal from our companies has already begun. There will be an exit because there are parliamentary elections … During the period before parliamentary elections, I want to be out of all contracts related to my business,” Zelenskiy said when asked about parliamentary elections.
“I, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, … have no obligations to anyone, nor to any of the owners of these or other [TV] channels. The studio Kvartal 95 has a contract … I am not the face of the 1+1 TV channel. I have no obligations at all,” he said.
When asked about Ukrainian oligarchs, he said: “They should not influence politics in any way… They cannot influence it. They cannot buy [political] parties, because this is a crime… Oligarchs should have no influence on media.”
Zelenskiy said returning to Ukraine funds oligarchs have withdrawn from the country is an issue that should be raised.
Zelenskiy said about Russia: “Sociology shows an important, alarming issue question: We no longer want war. We did not start this war. But if we have some possibility of this to end the war, we must do everything to stop our people from dying … We must achieve substantive cease-fire … Of course, you need to speak with representatives of the Russian Federation.”
The candidate said the Minsk agreements are not working.
“We need to expand the negotiating table” and involve Great Britain and the United States in the [negotiations] process, Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said the return of all Russia-occupied territories to Ukraine is “a serious matter,” adding,”It is not necessary to wear the mantle of the presidency.”
About the status of Russian language in Ukraine, Zelenskiy said, “We do not press on the Russian language … This is an information war … We must win the information war, starting in the temporarily occupied territories.”
Zelenskiy said it is necessary to “reach out to Ukrainians” in occupied areas of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
“There should be Russian-language news, a Russian-language [TV] channel of European level,” he said.
