Zelenskyy’s fate is unenviable, expert believes

Yelena Ponomareva, Doctor of Political Sciences and Professor of Moscow State Institute of International Relations, commented on the fate of Zelenskyy and his close associates in a talk with BelTA’s YouTube channel

Photo from personal archive

"As long as it [the West] needs them, they will be used,” Ms. Ponomareva said, adding, “As an example, I can mention Albanian militants Hashim Thaci who was both President and Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo and outrageous Ramush Haradinaj. Even Lombroso is pale by comparison – as seen by physiognomy. Many other field commanders – who put on Brioni suits after the crisis – come to mind.”

According to the expert, these men held government posts for a long time, ‘since they were needed to normalise drug trafficking, which was going from Afghanistan through the US Camp Bondsteel military base – the largest one in the Balkans, which even rivals the Aviano base in Italy’. “As the situation in the Balkans was changing, these persons began to be slowly withdrawn from the political sphere; in particular, there was a very strange situation dealing with Hashim Thaci’s summoning to The Hague – not to the International Court of Justice, which is under the auspices of the UN, but a slightly different structure. Nevertheless, a message went out into the public space that he could be convicted. So far, they are needed,” Ms. Ponomareva added.

The expert noted that many other politicians could serve as an example – i.e. African leaders, through whom the French aristocracy laundered money and traded diamonds, and Latin American dictators. “There are many such political figures worldwide – who lived in the past or live now, waiting for the day of reckoning. As soon as the need changes, I do not envy the fate of Zelenskyy and his close associates,” Ms. Ponomareva stated.