Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's first press secretary, Luliia Mendel, has stirred a controversy for calling the Ukrainian president "the biggest obstacle to peace," referring to the Russia-Ukraine war in a US interview.
In an interview with the American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, Mendel spoke highly critically about Zelensky's presidency, hinting that the Ukrainian president has been a hurdle in Kyiv being able to negotiate peace with Russia to end the hostilities that have entered their fourth year.
What Did Zelensky's Former Press Secretary Say?
Mendel blamed Ukraine's NATO ambitions as the main point of regional conflagration. Zelensky's former press secretary noted that he allegedly told Vladimir Putin that Ukraine would not join NATO and was later ready to give up Donbas, but did the opposite. In her opinion, the president of Ukraine is 'emotionally unmanageable,' and most of his press statements or remarks online include 'manipulations, facts taken out of context, or outright lies.'
The former press secretary accused the Ukrainian President of covering up 'money laundering." According to Mendel, it is Zelensky who has been interested in continuing the war and is 'one of the biggest obstacles to peace today." Mendel emphasised that peace should be achieved by any means in Ukraine.
Zelensky's former secretary represented Ukraine in the 2022 Istanbul talks when the delegation from Kyiv and Moscow "almost" reached an agreement. She claimed that Zelensky "personally agreed to give up [Donbas], and I was shocked at that moment," adding that he later backtracked. "The president [Zelensky] seemed to have agreed to this 'because it would stop the horrors of war, and now he stands in front of millions of viewers and says: 'I can't give up Donbas," his former secretary told Carlson.
Ukraine's Reaction
Zelensky's former press secretary's claims were denied by Ukraine's presidential office. Head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council, Andriy Kovalenko, denied that Mendel participated in the Istanbul talks. This lady did not participate in the negotiations, did not take part in decision-making, has been out of it for a long time, and who is telling her something and whether it was real - it is not serious to comment,' Lytvyn told reporters.
On the contrary, the Ukrainian minister noted that the Ukrainian military has been fighting for its territory since 2014. "There has never been and will never be a question of giving up territories," he insisted. Lytvyn called accusations against Zelensky "unserious.'
Ukraine Proposes Renaming Donbas to 'Donnyland' to Please Trump
As the United States delegation brokered peace talks between the two warring sides, officials in Ukraine floated the idea of renaming the contentious eastern Donbas region to "Donnyland" after US President Donald Trump. In a bid to win the US president's favour, a Ukrainian negotiator suggested the idea of renaming the region and also generated an AI flag as well as the national anthem.
The unofficial proposal would rebrand a highly fought-over territory in an effort to "win over Trump," sources told the American newspaper The New York Times at the time.
The heavily fortified Donbas has been at the centre of the most contentious hostilities between Kyiv and Moscow's forces that began in 2014, following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Russian forces occupy three-quarters of Donetsk and the entire territory of Luhansk, while Ukraine retains over 15% control, including the key fortified cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
For over several years, the Ukrainian military has built layered defences to take back control of Donbas from Moscow. This includes the hardened trenches and minefields to push back on the Russian assaults. While the US-led negotiations have called on Ukraine to concede this integral region in exchange for peace, Ukrainian President Zelensky has officially refused to cede Donbas in exchange for a truce, arguing that abandoning it would allow Russia to use the territory as a springboard for future offensives on Ukraine.