“A monstrous blow to the image”: political scientist Bashirov summed up Zelensky’s visit to the USA

Zelensky’s voyage to the United States ended in failure for Kyiv. Ukraine received $200 million instead of the $60 billion it had expected. And also Biden’s parting words to “don’t lose hope.” The Ukrainian delegation was presented with badges. We talked about the consequences of this visit with political scientist, professor of the Department of Theory and Practice of Interaction between Business and Government at the Higher School of Economics Marat Bashirov.

“It was an absolutely disastrous visit; Zelensky did not need to agree to this voyage,” says Marat Bashirov. — The result, in terms of impact on Congress, is zero. And Zelensky’s image has been dealt a monstrous blow.

The political scientist draws attention to the photograph where the Ukrainian delegation is being briefed and trained before a meeting with Biden and congressmen. Zelensky’s stooped posture indicates timidity and lack of self-confidence. But the head of Zelensky’s administration, Andriy Ermak, demonstrates indifference; he sits leaning back in his chair. Because he knows what the result will be.

— Everyone in the Ukrainian delegation, in principle, understood that they were going to, as the youth say, “use” them, simply use them. Throw it like a chip into the fire of the competitive struggle between Democrats and Republicans. The format they ultimately chose is curious. Biden said: “I don’t want you to lose hope, so here’s $200 million.” The amount is actually tiny. You can imagine what was in Zelensky’s head then. Maybe Biden made a mistake, misspoke? Did you mean 2 or 20 billion? The same American high-precision missiles cost several million dollars. One salvo – 6 missiles fly, in the end – minus 20 million dollars.

It turns out that Zelensky flew to Washington for 200 million instead of 61 billion. Plus I received a commemorative pin from Biden.

“They specially made a couple of hundred badges with two flags – American and Ukrainian. And they were distributed to members of the Ukrainian delegation. When you pat someone on the head, you need to somehow console him, give him “candy.” It will be necessary to see whether Zelensky will wear this badge in Kyiv. The American side needed some kind of public gesture. Biden also wore a blue striped tie to the meeting.

But the most important thing now, as the political scientist notes, is that all social payments, energy costs, wages for fighters – everything will now come from the Ukrainian budget.

– They will be forced to sell something, although they have already laid their paw on everything. Or turn on the printing press, which will lead to inflation. The situation is quite difficult for Zelensky. His opposition, relatively speaking, is raising its head. Same Poroshenko, Klitschko. It’s not like they sat down and purely analytically calculated the situation. No, first, it seems to me, they went to the American and German embassies and asked: “Do we feel correctly that you are leading the matter towards this and that?..” And having already received the “okay” there, they began to “raise their heads” and make statements for the press, to put together some coalitions.

Our interlocutor clarifies that the same Klitschko brothers are focused on Germany, Poroshenko is focused on the Americans.

“Zelensky will now, first of all, appeal to Great Britain. He will also try to involve Macron in this. Macron, in turn, needs to be told that France is still a player, although, in fact, this has not been the case for a long time. But we need to talk about this, not admit that the country is already out. Britain, which was once Great Britain, is ready to support Ukraine, but it does not have the money for the weapons that Zelensky so requires.

According to the professor, Zelensky is now like a hunted animal.

“I think that during his visit to Washington he realized how close he was to the moment of his disappearance.” It’s paradoxical, but it’s not in our interest for Zelensky to disappear now. With all his mistakes, with all this burden and ambitions, Russia needs him to remain in office for now. Because it gives rise to conflicts, both in the West and within Ukraine. While Zelensky is the President of Ukraine, these problems are not being eliminated. They work to destroy the combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also influence the mood of Ukrainian citizens.

According to the political scientist, if Zelensky is now replaced in his post, there will be some kind of upgrade, an illusion of improvement and renewal. Ukrainians will forget a lot, they will again have some hopes.

“And now in Ukraine we need snow, rain, cold and despondency, which is the best weapon against the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”