Zelensky may have met secretly with Russians in Oman, MP alleges

Zelensky may have met secretly with Russians in Oman, MP alleges

Ukrainian President Zelensky may have met secretly with top Russian
officials during his visit to Oman on Jan. 5-8, Artur Herasymov, the co-chair
of the European Solidarity parliamentary faction, alleged in the session hall
the morning of Jan. 14. “The trip occurred either for personal or other
reasons, which is why we are very interested in the mysterious charter plans
that flew between Oman and Russia. It’s very indicative of secret
negotiations,” Herasymov said from the tribune. Zelensky may have met with
Vladislav Surkov, an aide to Russian President Putin who is widely recognized
as overseeing the war in Donbas, Anatolii Amelin, the director of economic
programs at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, wrote on his Facebook page
on Jan. 12. He cited reports by the texty.org.ua news site that Zelensky arrived
in Muscat several hours ahead of two charter planes arriving almost simultaneously
from Moscow, one ordered by Zelensky and another that is owned by Viktor
Medvedchuk, who is widely recognized as Putin’s representative in Ukraine. The
news site speculated that Russian officials arrived on Zelensky’s charter
plane, and returned to Moscow the morning of Jan. 8 on Medvedchuk’s plane. Zelensky
returned to Kyiv only in the evening, said the texty.org.ua news site, which is
sponsored by the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

“A Bombardier charter plane, with the license plate 9H-VJN, arrived in
Oman’s capital Muscat from Stockholm with a transfer flight in Moscow,
practically simultaneous with a tacit flight conducted by a plane owned by
Medvedchuk, which was also in Muscat the night of Jan. 7,” according to the
texty.org.ua news site. “That makes it obvious that the charter for Zelensky
was ordered ahead of the Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing catastrophe in
Tehran. Yet instead of immediately departing Oman the morning of Jan. 8 after
being informed of the tragedy, Zelensky waited for some reason. Our version is
he waited for a meeting with someone from flew to Oman from Moscow on the very
same plane, the Bombardier (9H-VJN), which flew Zelensky to Kyiv afterwards.
According to investigators, only after the meeting did Medvedchuk’s plane fly
Zelensky’s partners to Moscow, shortly after which Zelensky flew on that very same
Bombardier (9H-VJN).”

The President’s Office has yet to confirm or deny the information, including
whether Russian officials flew on the charter planes of Zelensky or Medvedchuk,
according to the Telegram page of Taras Berezovets, among the founders of the
Ukrainian Institute for the Future, which employs allies of former President
Poroshenko, as well as his most vocal critics. “Surkov has a point man on the
Ukrainian side, Andriy Yermak. For some reason, Yermak was the single official
who was with Zelensky during his trip to Oman. There isn’t any confirmation of
Zelensky meeting with Surkov yet. But if the information is confirmed, the
situation with Zelensky will dramatically intensify. The opposition will grab
at this to accuse the president of state treason,” Berezovets wrote on Jan. 13.

Zenon Zawada: Speculation over these reports erupted on Jan. 9 and had
since died down before Herasymov reignited them this morning. This indicates
Poroshenko’s team believes the reports to be credible and will use them as the
main narrative in the daily political discourse of its attack campaign against
Zelensky. Poroshenko still controls several key television and Internet media
outlets to keep the allegations in the discourse (not to mention his MPs and
media talking heads). Meanwhile, the silence of Zelensky’s spokespeople on
these reports indicates they will play the waiting game in the hope they will
evaporate gradually. (Ironically, the president took the same approach when he was
exposed for meeting with Medvedchuk in secret.)

Indeed, it would be quite the scandal if Zelensky is confirmed to have
met with Russian officials whose flight to Oman was on a charter plane he
ordered, in what he alleged was a personal trip at personal expense. The scandal
is even more sensational if he delayed his return flight to Ukraine for meetings
that might have included Surkov. And reports that they might have been planning
local elections in Donbas “at the earliest” – meaning this year, and likely without
restoring control of the border – would be the icing on the cake for the
pro-Western opposition, which needs new attack narratives against the president
going into the spring.

If the Surkov meeting is ever confirmed to have occurred, it would
support our view that Zelensky is going to great lengths to resolve the armed
conflict in Donbas, which includes offering many concessions to the Russian
side. It also confirms our view that he needs to reach a breakthrough – such as
arranging elections in Donbas – by the summertime. In our view, this makes the
most political sense for Zelensky, who needs to satisfy his core electorate of
southeastern Ukrainian voters, who most want an end to warfare. They won’t care
whom he met with and how, as long as he gets the results they want.