{"id":141097,"date":"2021-05-21T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T17:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=141097"},"modified":"2021-05-21T20:24:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T17:24:51","slug":"zelenskyi-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those elections \u201cvoter revolution\u201d, or \u201cvoter Maidan\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those<\/em> <\/em>have<\/em> <\/em>been<\/em> <\/em>two<\/em> <\/em>turbulent<\/em> <\/em>years<\/em>. <\/em>Not even halfway through his term in office (the President serves for five years), Zelenskyi is showing signs of a change. On May 20, Zelenskyi held the annual press conference. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We highlight key moments from the news conference, and look at how President Zelenskyi\u2019s tenure has evolved in the past two years.     <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From dove to hawk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace was Ukrainians\u2019 key expectation of the new President. Some were hopeful, others feared a peace deal on Putin\u2019s terms.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on in office, President Zelenskyi was optimistic about the prospects of brokering a deal with Putin. He was pressing for a bilateral meeting with the Russian President. In the first months of Zelenskyi\u2019s presidency, the new Ukrainian government avoided referring to Russia as aggressor, did not push forward on the aspirations to NATO membership, and kept emphasizing eagerness to negotiate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, the concessions that Moscow demanded were deemed unacceptable by Ukraine\u2019s civil society, while Russia would not compromise. Following hours of talks across various formats, the achievements were quite modest. There have been a few prisoner swaps, and a ceasefire holding between summer and winter 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When, in April 2021, Russia began to intimidate Ukraine and its foreign allies with the prospects of a large-scale invasion, Zelenskyi switched the rhetoric from \u201cwe need to stop firing\u201d to \u201cour planes will throw bombs\u201d. Past the two-year mark in office, the President sees Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership as the only way to end the war.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expectation is to get the NATO Membership Action Plan by the end of his tenure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnd the war, restore sovereignty over Donbas and Crimea, receive the NATO Membership Action Plan, and a normal dialogue with the EU,\u201d an unnamed member of the President\u2019s team was quoted as saying by \u201chromadske\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the press conference, Zelenskyi made it clear that the Kremlin holds the key to the settlement of the conflict in Donbas. \u201cIn our chess game, despite being white, when we started, we had only half of the pieces. Indeed, 99 per cent depends on Russia. The prospect of freezing the conflict is one per cent. We are clinging to that one per cent very tightly, not to let the conflict freeze,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, he underscored the importance of the Crimean Platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussia reacts negatively to the Crimean Platform. To us, it is paramount to have something, following seven years of the war and the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am happy that today we finally have the first serious platform to deal with de-occupation of Crimea. That is not yet another summit where declarations will be signed, but (a setting) to consider de-occupation steps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecond, we shall finally open the permanent office of the Crimean Platform. A team of professionals, from lawyers to economists, and to humanitarian workers, will deal daily with the problems of occupied Crimea and the people entitled to humanitarian aid, and those imprisoned in Crimea or in the Russian Federation,\u201d Zelenskyi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From \u201cKolomoyskyi\u2019s puppet\u201d to a \u201cwar on oligarchs\u201d  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Zelenskyi ran for President, he was accused of being patronized by oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi as the television channel \u201c1+1\u201d owned by the tycoon promoted the candidate in the campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Zelenskyi won the election race, Kolomoyskyi gained more power. He returned to Ukraine, gave a number of interviews, often rude in their tone, hinting that he\u2019s the one to \u201csolve the problems\u201d now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the President and the oligarch parted ways quite soon. As the lawmakers voted in the so-called \u201canti-Kolomoyskyi\u201d law, Zelenskyi attended the sitting to make sure there are enough votes. Later, MP Oleksandr Dubinskyi, believed to be lobbying Kolomoyskyi\u2019s interests, was expelled from the \u201cServant of the People\u201d (Sluha Narodu) party. Also, indictments in the PrivatBank case were issued, and anti-monopoly fines were imposed on the companies owned by the tycoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyi became excited after enacting the sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defense Council on Viktor Medvedchuk and his cronies, a move that found broad support with the public. So, the President hurried to ride a wave of de-oligarchization.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMedvedchuk out\u2026 others will follow,\u201d Zelenskyi promised referring to his anti-oligarch campaign. Looking beyond the promises, there is a bill on oligarchs coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyi revealed some of the details of the bill at the news conference. \u201cThe bill will be ready next week. Its core meaning and philosophy is we don\u2019t want to kill big business. Instead, we kill the \u2018power of oligarchs\u2019 as a notion in our country. They will no longer have impact on mass media, politics, or civil servants.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtherwise those people will be labeled \u2018oligarchs\u2019 and included in the registry. Then, those large companies may lose most of their assets abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLarge companies will not be destroyed. Everyone wants them to stay, proceed as big taxpayers, develop business and create more jobs,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have a chance to stop being oligarchs and avoid becoming them. The law will give them some time, not too much time, to get rid of their power. We\u2019ll show them how, if they need to. There will be no dead end for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are three major points: impact on media, one way or another; the role in the political life \u2013 impact on MPs, civil servants, and ministers; and their assets. Conforming to all the three criteria brings a person into the registry of oligarchs,\u201d Zelenskyi explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From \u201cfresh faces\u201d to \u201cexperienced managers\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting his term in office, Zelenskyi mostly relied on \u201cfresh faces\u201d, embodied by the former Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk. But the President was dissatisfied with the results, he kept complaining of staffing shortages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address those shortages, government posts were assigned to \u201cexperienced managers\u201d whose reputation was in some cases compromised. Thus, the Minister of Education Serhiy Shkarlet was at the center of a plagiarism scandal. Deputy head of the President\u2019s Office Oleh Tatarov served as deputy chief of the Main Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry during Yanukovych\u2019s presidency, and publicly spoke against the Maidan activists. Zelenskyi does not seem to be bothered by the previous record of those officials.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on Tatarov, Zelenskyi said: \u201cAndriy Yermak (Head of the President\u2019s Office \u2013 edit.) is convinced that Tatarov is a professional, so am I. As for the rest, I am not well-informed about what Tatarov has said or what his beliefs are (referring to his statements that the Maidan activists committed crimes, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau is influenced by foreign states \u2013 \u201chromadske\u201d), so it\u2019s hard to comment. I know there are some gossips, but I have no evidence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople who believe that the fall of Viktor Yanukovych\u2019s regime was a coup do not work with us. I never heard him say anything like that,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time he agreed that there have been many staffing mistakes. \u201cI feel ashamed for what some of the people in the team have done. Small mistakes are to be forgiven, and they need to improve. People deserve a second chance. I always give them a second, sometimes even a third chance. I then may regret, that\u2019s true. I am responsible for what they are. But I did not see that from the start,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyi admitted that the staffing shortages still exist. \u201cUnfortunately, strong staff are a few. Still, in the \u2018Servant of the People\u2019 party there are more of them than in any other party. I am glad about the evolutionary cleansing of the Parliament. The next Parliament will be even cleaner.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From \u201cone-term president\u201d to \u201cone term is too little time\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting off his political career, Zelenskyi reassured the voters that he will be a one-term president. Later, he said that one term could be too little time. As his approval rating exceeds 30 per cent, Zelenskyi might be prompted to run for reelection.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too early and unfair to say, I have not even served half of the term. We\u2019ll be in time to do a lot. There are many promises, and I don\u2019t want them to remain promises in history. My willingness to run for the second term will fully coincide with the will of the public. It will heavily depend on the share of promises delivered.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt also depends on my family. Alongside Ukraine, they are significant in my life, so it will also largely depend on them,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those elections \u201cvoter revolution\u201d, or \u201cvoter Maidan\u201d.  Those have been two turbulent years. Not even halfway through his term in office (the President serves for five years), Zelenskyi is showing signs of a change. On May 20, Zelenskyi held […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":141098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[765,699],"tags":[],"section":[743],"form":[],"yoast_head":"\nZelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference | UACRISIS.ORG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-21T17:24:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-21T17:24:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cover-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1405\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uacrisis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uacrisis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0430 \u0411\u0456\u043b\u0430\u0441\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference | UACRISIS.ORG","description":"Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those | Uacrisis.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference | UACRISIS.ORG","og_description":"Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those | Uacrisis.org","og_url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference","og_site_name":"Uacrisis.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/","article_published_time":"2021-05-21T17:24:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-21T17:24:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1405,"url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cover-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uacrisis","twitter_site":"@uacrisis","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0430 \u0411\u0456\u043b\u0430\u0441","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization","name":"Ukraine crisis media center","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uacrisis\/","http:\/\/youtube.com\/UACrisisMediaCenter","https:\/\/twitter.com\/uacrisis"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/header_logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/header_logo-1.png","width":250,"height":90,"caption":"Ukraine crisis media center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/","name":"Uacrisis.org","description":"Ukraine crisis media center","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cover-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cover-3.jpg","width":2048,"height":1405},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#webpage","url":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference","name":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference | UACRISIS.ORG","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-05-21T17:24:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-21T17:24:51+00:00","description":"Two years ago, Ukraine elected comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi as President. At the time, he had no prior political experience. Some experts call those | Uacrisis.org","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430","item":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/78c5d7897a959f7bf7116a6ea85173d4"},"headline":"Zelenskyi\u2019s first two years in office: major transformations, key moments from press conference","datePublished":"2021-05-21T17:24:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-21T17:24:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#webpage"},"wordCount":1495,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/zelenskyi-press-conference#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cover-3.jpg","articleSection":["Economics","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/78c5d7897a959f7bf7116a6ea85173d4","name":"\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0430 \u0411\u0456\u043b\u0430\u0441"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141097"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=141097"},{"taxonomy":"form","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/form?post=141097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}