Zelenskiy calls for end to “long process” to achieve Donbas ceasefire

Presidential front-runner Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated
his positions on his Russian foreign policy in an Apr. 7 television interview,
stressing that “we can’t allow some long process” in order to achieve a
ceasefire in Donbas. Direct talks with the Moscow leadership are needed, he
told the Ukrayina television network, adding that he is willing to engage in
such negotiations in the presence of Western diplomats. He said he opposes
surrendering any Ukrainian territory, but called for changing the Normandy Four
format (Ukraine/Russia/France/Germany) for the peace talks. In the past, he
called for involving American and British diplomats in the talks.

Ukraine is confronted with two key global problems,
Zelenskiy said in the same interview, which he identified as the war in Donbas
and fear among foreign investors. “It’s scary for people,” he said. “Their
finances aren’t protected and their business is being pressured.” Western
investors hope to achieve guarantees from the Ukrainian president for the
investments they plan to make, Zelenskiy said, adding that he’d be willing to
provide them. He called for removing the economic investigative authority “of
all law enforcement bodies, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the
Prosecutor General’s Office, the Internal Affairs Ministry.” He called for a
new investigative body to address economic crimes.

In a television interview the same evening, Poroshenko
proposed that his presidential debate with Zelenskiy be held on Apr. 14 in the
evening. Though Poroshenko said Olympic Stadium in Kyiv – as proposed by
Zelenskiy – is “not the best place to hold such discussions,” the president
said he is willing to engage in the debate there.

Zenon Zawada: Zelenskiy’s
interest in a quick and permanent ceasefire in Donbas is a populist campaign
theme that is part of his enormous popularity. Yet it’s this very position that
has raised the most concern among Ukraine’s Russia hawks (and the country’s
Western-oriented electorate), which we expect the president to continue attack
him on during the remaining two weeks in the campaign. We certainly expect
Poroshenko will address this in the debate (if Zelenskiy agrees to it) and
continue to hammer on the theme that all of Ukraine’s Western integration
progress will be lost if Zelenskiy is elected.

We are confident that Zelenskiy won’t be able to
achieve a permanent ceasefire without enormous sacrifices (capitulation) by
Ukraine on behalf of Russia. So if he’s elected president, Zelenskiy will be
forced to either continue the warfare, more-or-less in its current form, or
compromise/capitulate, which will enrage a significant portion of the Ukrainian
public. In this sense, Zelenskiy’s calls for a quick peace are a potential time
bomb for Ukrainian statehood that the Russian will be eager to manipulate and
exploit.