Veteran diplomat appointed presidential adviser

Ukrainian foreign policy veteran Ruslan Demchenko was
appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 23 to serve as an
adviser. Before serving as a foreign policy adviser to Petro Poroshenko, Demchenko
served as deputy foreign minister for four years under the presidency of Viktor
Yanukovych. In this position, he led Ukraine’s relations with Russia and helped
lead the ministry behind the scenes, formulating and distributing talking
points to embassies, the eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. Demchenko
led the opposition to the EuroMaidan protest within the ministry, which has
been traditionally pro-Western, the news site said.

Ruslan Riaboshapka, currently serving as deputy head
of the Presidential Office, is among the candidates for prosecutor general of
Ukraine, President Zelensky told a press conference on July 23. Riaboshapka has
a specialist’s degree in jurisprudence from International Solomon University in
Kyiv. He served as the deputy director of the legal department of the Cabinet
secretariat under the Yanukovych administration, before leading the
anti-corruption department at Transparency International for six months in
2013-2014.

Zenon Zawada: For a
president whose loyal party (The People’s Servant) has swept the Old Guard out
of parliament, Zelensky has in fact brought many political veterans to his own
team. And several of these officials should have not gained government posts,
according to the lustration law that forbids Yanukovych-era officials,
including Demchenko and Presidential Office Head Andriy Bohdan. In this sense,
Zelensky’s proposal to extend the lustration law to include Poroshenko-era
officials isn’t consistent with his personnel decisions.

More significantly, Demchenko’s appointment indicates
that the Zelensky administration is still flirting with the impossible, which
is to build positive relations with both Russia and the West. It has long been
apparent that Russia sees Ukraine as a zero sum game, with gaining complete
control of the territory as the uncompromising goal. Sooner or later, Zelensky
will have to choose to fully align with Russia or the West. That’s when the
current honeymoon period with the public will conclude.

As for Riaboshapka, we don’t believe he has the
experience, nor has he earned the public’s respect, to serve in such a critical
position as prosecutor general. This candidate should have (1) a respected law
degree, (2) significant law enforcement experience in Ukraine, (3) some
experience in working with Western officials and (4) the respect of Western
authorities. While we don’t doubt Riaboshapka’s talents in his current
capacity, he falls short in most of these categories. We believe his name was
floated by Zelensky as a red herring.