He has only been president since May 20, but in his first few months Volodymyr Zelensky has already taken his first steps to strengthen Ukraine’s independence.
Only time will tell whether Zelensky’s term at Ukraine’s helm will strengthen its independence or weaken it. But so far, the president says he will continue the country’s pro-Western path.
Here’s what the president has done so far:
Unifying Ukrainians
Zelensky promoted rhetoric that aims to unify Ukrainians, regardless of whether they live in mainland Ukraine, Russian-occupied Crimea and Donbas or abroad.
To this end, the president plans to launch a Russian-language broadcaster to reach Ukrainians living in territories under Moscow’s control.
During an official state visit to Toronto, Zelensky also called on Ukrainians living in the diaspora to return to Ukraine by making investments and establishing long-term bonds with their country of origin.
While in Toronto, Zelensky formulated a Canada-inspired goal for Ukraine: for it to become “country of successful wealthy people living in harmony and peace with the world, environment and themselves.”
No to Medvedchuk
Zelensky has also shown he can take a tough stance on Moscow’s abettors in Ukraine. To this end, he has removed Viktor Medvedchuk, a notorious Ukrainian businessman and politician with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the Minsk working group negotiating a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia, including its fighters who currently control part of Donbas.
Zelensky also banned a planned television conference between Ukraine and Russia that was supposed to be organized by Medvedchuk’s 112 channel. Zelensky called the talks “a cheap, but dangerous PR move before (parliamentary) elections aimed at dividing all of Ukrainians into two camps.”
Development
Economically, Zelensky has supported developing infrastructure and ensuring fairness for international investors. Whether traveling to Turkey or Canada or speaking at domestic business conferences, Zelensky has stressed that economic cooperation with and investment in Ukraine should be a win-win situation for everyone involved. He has pledged to carry out de-monopolization, protect investments in Ukraine and improve the business climate.
Zelensky is also paying close attention to road construction, the renovation of bridges, and investment in regional airports in Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kramatorsk, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhya.
The president has also said he plans for large-scale privatization. Ukraine needs effective owners for hundreds of decaying state-owned enterprises. If done transparently, this can be a major step toward prosperity.
Zelensky is also paying close attention to Ukraine’s cooperation with its financial donor organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The very continuation of talks with these organizations has reassured investors that the economic situation in the country is stable.
Dmytro Derkach, the World Bank’s spokesperson in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Post that the president left a positive impression on the World Bank in a meeting held during the electoral campaign. Zelensky’s support for lifting a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land assured the financiers that they were dealing with an economically well-informed president, he said.
International activity
In international relations, Zelensky has spent his first three months meeting with regional leaders. He has visited the European Union capital of Brussels, Germany, France, and Turkey. He has also had phone calls with the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, China. And, on Aug. 19, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Kyiv.
Zelensky has also not shied away from talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although many foreign policy advisors recommended against this move, Zelensky went ahead. However, in his two calls with Putin so far, Zelensky appears to have held firm.
In his second call, which took place on Aug. 7 after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in Donbas, he told Putin he would “protect the rights of all Ukrainians no matter where they are, and there is no need to introduce amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.” Zelensky was referring to a component of the second Minsk agreement that would require Kyiv to grant Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts with semi-independent status, a move that is highly unpopular in Ukraine.
Press freedom
On several occasions, Zelensky has shown understanding of the role of a free press and the critical need to protect free speech in Ukraine. During a July trip to Mykolaiv, an oblast center 400 kilometers to the south of Kyiv, the president called for respecting the work of journalists.
But the messages from the Zelensky administration have not been overwhelmingly positive. Andriy Bohdan, the president’s chief of staff, has told journalists that the presidential office can communicate with society through social media and hinted that journalism had made itself redundant.
