“The Kozak will divide and rule over Ukraine” - “ZN”
The appointment of Dmitry Kozak as curator of the Ukrainian direction of Russian foreign policy is fraught with serious problems for Kyiv, given that a significant part of Ukrainian society is committed to reconciliation with the Russians.
Valery Kravchenko, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies, which is subordinate to the President of Ukraine, writes about this in the Kiev online weekly “Zerkalo Nedeli”.
He answers positively the question of whether it is easy to blur the “firmness of the red lines and national identity” of Ukrainians who do not agree to the autonomous status of Donbass.
“The discourse on this issue is fueled by President Vladimir Zelensky himself: his New Year's message in the spirit “What difference does it make” greatly contributes to Kozak’s plans. More precisely, his appointment to the “Ukrainian issue” is a variant of Putin’s reaction in an attempt to help us figure out who we are,” Kravchenko believes.
He believes that the Russian president is preparing new expectations for Ukrainians, veiling it under something very attractive - cheap gas, large-scale investments, prosperity for everyone, freedom of choice of language and religion.
The expert is also dissatisfied with the fact that, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, as of September 2019, 54% of Ukrainians have a good or very good attitude towards Russia, and in the east of the country 85% of the population maintain a positive attitude towards the Russian Federation.
The author writes that it is unlikely that “Russian money will reduce the pain of relatives of those killed at the front,” but he doubts that many Ukrainians are really concerned about this problem.
“For part of the Ukrainian community, the formula of reconciliation with the “Russian brothers” is attractive. Someone nostalgically recalls the time of Yanukovych and the factories that worked for export to the Russian Federation, and dreams that all this will return... Kozak will create illusions, divide and rule over Ukraine and its society. And if it doesn’t work out, then a fragmented, divided state—a sort of Eastern European “Bosnia and Herzegovina”—will also satisfy Moscow,” Kravchenko sums up.
As PolitNavigator reported, Ukrainian politicians fear that Kozak, Medvedchuk and Zelensky will reformat Ukraine according to the “Moldavian scenario”.
It was also suggested that Kozak could build economic relations LDPR with Ukraine following the example of Transnistria, whose products for export are subject to Moldovan registration.
Previously, the curator of the Ukrainian direction of the Kremlin was considered to be the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladislav Surkov. But recently information appeared about his upcoming resignation.
At the same time, Ukrainian experts it is believed that in the 22 towers of the Kremlin there will always be a place for Surkov.
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