Zelensky’s problems. Krzysztof Rak: The US is right

Ukrainians have not been allowed to develop an oligarchic system for thirty years. The US is right to demand action from Zełenski, says Dr. Krzysztof Rak.

Krzysztof Rak, historian, publicist and book author, was the guest of Piotr Zychowicz in a new episode on the YouTube channel “Historia realna”. The topics of the conversation included: relations between Warsaw and Kiev, especially in the context of the clear political turn of Zelensky’s team towards Berlin.

Oligarchic system in Ukraine. Cancer: the US is right

The interlocutors also raised the issue of oligarchy rule in Ukraine. Washington has set eighteen conditions that the Ukrainian authorities must meet if they want to count on military and financial assistance. This includes: stopping corruption, improving the justice system. The list of institutions in need of reform is long. The allies also expect corrupt politicians to be removed from their positions, sometimes those close to the Ukrainian president.

Zychowicz wondered whether the United States was interfering too much in Ukraine’s internal affairs. – Of course America has the right to demand that the money and weapons it gives go to the front and not to meet the needs of the oligarchs, but this is a bit of interference in Ukraine’s sovereign affairs. (…) Should Americans decide on President Zelensky’s personal policies? What about Ukraine’s sovereignty? – he said.

– There is war. Taking into account the level of financing and the degree of dependence, Ukraine is partly sovereign because it is directly dependent on Western aid. Without the help of Western Ukraine, such a thing would not exist and there is no point in talking about it, Rak recalled in response. He added that in his opinion the Americans were right on this issue.

Cancer: Zelensky did not fight the oligarchy

– There are a hundred reasons why Ukraine found itself in the situation it is in now. But the most important thing, which depends on the Ukrainians themselves, is that a sick oligarchic system has existed there for thirty years, based on corruption. This makes Ukraine a weak country and the Russians are taking advantage of this, Rak said.

– If Ukraine would develop as a normal country, because at the end of the Cold War it started more or less at the same level as Poland – that’s what economists say. Now, after thirty years, the country has developed along the same lines as Poland and there would probably be no question that the Russians would dare to attack. Ukraine then had more than 50 million inhabitants. If it developed normally, it would be a semi-regional power – that would be no joke. However, these thirty years have made Ukraine very weak, and the Ukrainians are not really to blame for this. They have nothing to say, because everything, all this social energy, is not allowed to develop due to the oligarchic system – said the historian.

The historian mentioned that Zelensky came to power because he promised to destroy these oligarchs, but this did not happen. He recalled that the vast majority of Ukrainian society expects the oligarchs to be removed from power. – Zelensky’s mistake was that because he had such great public support, he did not fight the system. It is not certain whether he would have succeeded, but he did not fight and now we have the consequences – said Krzysztof Rak.

Later in the program, the interlocutors said, among other things, about a possible successor to the president in Kiev.

Source: Do Rzeczy

\