President Volodymyr Zelensky just can’t let his showman past go.
To sum up his first 100 days in office, which concluded on Aug. 27, Zelensky gave an interview to his former colleague, Ukrainian actor Stanislav Boklan.
Boklan played Ukraine’s prime minister in the television series “Servant of the People,” where Zelensky played the president. But while Zelensky went on to win the Ukrainian presidency in April 2019, Boklan still has only played a prime minister on television.
The interview was pre-recorded and mixed with comments from First Lady Olena Zelenska, chief of staff Andriy Bohdan and Zelensky’s advisors. It aired on Aug. 31 on the 1+1 TV channel, which belongs to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. The Kvartal 95 production company that Zelensky used to co-own and run airs most of its shows on 1+1.
Since entering office on May 20, Zelensky hasn’t given a major interview to any media. His spokeswoman, Iiulia Mendel, earlier announced that he would hold a press conference after the first 100 days of his presidency. However, she recently said that plans had changed and the press conference will take place later, possibly this fall.
Instead, the president gave an interview to a friendly actor — a move seemingly in line with Bohdan’s previous statement that the administration doesn’t need journalists to communicate with the public.
Zelensky’s comments offer some insights into his administration’s priorities and come on the heels of the first interview by Oleksiy Honcharuk, Ukraine’s newly appointed prime minister.
From personal to Putin
The tone of the interview was informal. Boklan and Zelensky talked at length about the president’s personal life and also touched on light topics like the presidential dress code and Zelensky’s morning routine.
However, the president also addressed several critical issues: most notably, his communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky said he had his first phone conversation with Putin after the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered Russia in May to release three Ukrainian navy boats and 24 sailors it had arrested in the Black Sea in November 2018.
The Ukrainian president said that the captured sailors’ relatives had repeatedly asked him to speak with Putin because they didn’t believe that anyone besides the Russian president had the power to send their loved ones home.
After it became clear the Kremlin had no intention of obeying the tribunal’s decision, Zelensky said he decided to call Putin. They talked for roughly 30 minutes about returning Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia and implementing a ceasefire in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which is partially occupied by Russian proxy forces.
“We had, I think, a substantive conversation because we have determined how and when we will get our people returned,” Zelensky said. He did not state what date they agreed upon.
The second phone call between the presidents took place after what Zelensky termed his most difficult day as president: when four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in Donbas on Aug. 6.
“I said: ‘I thought we had organized a ceasefire,’” Zelensky said.
The two presidents again discussed freeing prisoners held in Russia. They also exchanged some information that Zelensky said he was not at liberty to disclose.
Ukrainian language law
In April, the previous Ukrainian parliament passed a controversial bill on protecting the Ukrainian language. Former President Petro Poroshenko later signed it into law.
The so-called “language law” will formalize rules governing the usage of the Ukrainian language in the media, education and business. It aims to strenghten the langauge’s role in a country where much of the public still speaks Russian.
However, compared to his predecessor, Zelensky has taken a softer position on linguistic and cultural issues in Ukraine. Previously, he said he would analyze the law to determine if it violates any constitutional rights or the interests of all citizens of Ukraine.
The president has supported the law’s goal of expanding the usage of Ukrainian, but has criticized its approach. The state should positively promote Ukrainian, rather than creating bans and imposing penalties, Zelensky previously stated.
During the interview, Boklan asked Zelensky if the Ukrainian language law would be reconsidered.
Zelensky didn’t answer directly, but said that there should be a law protecting the rights of minorities, including their languages and religions. He did not provide further details.
Utilities bills
According to multiple polls, significant segments of the Ukrainian public expect Zelensky to reduce burdensome utilities tariffs.
That is normally the purview of the Cabinet of Ministers. However, since the new government was entirely formed by Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, the president is broadly viewed as the political leader of the Cabinet.
In the interview with Boklan, Zelensky said he had charged the government with finding a model to solve the issue of high tariffs. The problem, Zelensky said, is not with the tariffs themselves, but with the fact that many people spend most of their pensions or wages on them. Thus, if utilities tariffs remain the same, the government must increase pensions, subsidies and wages.
“They (government) knows my opinion and is preparing something,” Zelensky said.
Change of plans
Zelensky wasn’t the only official with news for Ukrainians. Chief of Staff Bohdan also made an unexpected announcement in the broadcast.
Contrary to previous plans, the Office of the President would not be moving from its historic home on Kyiv’s Bankova Street to Ukrainian House exhibition center on Yevropeiska Square.
Zelensky announced his desire not to work in the building on Bankova before the second round of the presidential vote on April 21. Later, in June, his office presented a concept for the new Office of the President, promising that the move would not use any state budgetary funds. Zelensky also said he wanted to turn the building on Bankova into an art museum.
However, that plan proved unrealistic.
“In reality, the time spent on repair work (at Ukrainian House) plus all these systems of secrecy, communication, security — it’s all so complicated, that’s there’s no sense in doing it temporarily,” Bohdan said.
