Zelensky’s presidency unlikely to change Ukraine’s foreign policy

Ukraine’s foreign policy will not change during the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky since many of the economic, military and ideological steps taken in the past five years now connect the country with the western world.

“On foreign policy front, Ukraine’s major issue will be the war in Donbas and relations with Russia. There have been fears that with Zelensky at helm, Ukraine’s foreign policy would radically change in favor of Russia. In fact, it will be very difficult for him to do this as in the last five years since the Ukraine crisis broke out following the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union, the non-signing of which actually deposed the former president Viktor Yanukovych. Moreover, Ukraine also got visa-free access for its citizens to the EU (except for the UK and Ireland) and four other Schengen-associated countries,” Georgia Today posted in its article.

Zelensky may indeed meet Putin and even soften his rhetoric towards Russia, but on a grander level of state politics, he will not change Ukraine’s view of Crimea and the conflict in Donbas. A recent spectacular rise of national self-consciousness among ordinary Ukrainians will not tolerate any U-turn to the country’s foreign policy. A democratically elected Zelensky is also a hostage of Ukrainian public opinion.

Zelensky’s win also shows that among post-Soviet Slavic states, Ukraine in fact is the only one which has regularly changed heads of the state. Thus this development might also have an influence on Belarus where eventually the time will come when a long-ruling Alexander Lukashenka will have to make a choice between his independent Belarussian successor or Belarus integrated into Russia.