PRESS RELEASE : Today, Ukraine has changed the formats of international communication and has become a much more powerful state than before the war – Mykhailo Podolyak [September 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 September 2022.

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has been urging the world community to abandon abstract formulations and move to clear statements and concrete actions in order to achieve results and defeat the aggressor. This opinion was expressed by Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak on “VIP with Natalia Moseichuk” program on 1+1 TV channel.

“Today, Ukraine sits at the negotiating table not somewhere on the periphery, as we were used to, but in the center. And it says: no, these rules don’t work. Please stop talking about it abstractly, let’s talk clearly – that’s how it works. This is very important,” he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak recalled that for many years Ukraine has been considered a peripheral state in the world. But thanks to the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the state in the war with Russia, we began to be perceived as equal partners.

“The President has changed this paradigm. We should talk as equals. We suffer losses, we bear a certain responsibility, so why should we come and only ask for something? No, we are partners,” said the Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President.

According to him, today Ukraine has changed the formats of interstate communication and as a subject is much more powerful than before the war.

At the same time, Mykhailo Podolyak noted that from the first hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was no feeling that we were in this fight alone – there was a large number of calls from foreign leaders with words of support, in particular from Great Britain and the US. He noted that the interlocutors assured that they would be there and help Ukraine.

“At first, in the first three or four days, our partners did not really believe that Ukraine would withstand the first hit. Then the support increased, the number of calls increased… But from the first day, I emphasize once again, we felt that Europe acutely perceives everything that is happening,” said the Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office.

Mykhailo Podolyak expressed the opinion that Europe and the world did not provide such powerful support before the full-scale war, in particular, because they could not fully assess the situation.

“The problems of this war are that the European analytical opinion absolutely did not understand its motives, did not predict Russia’s behavior and did not realize the strength of Ukraine. That’s why they made the wrong decisions before the war,” he is convinced.

The Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office noted that up to a certain point, civilized countries were afraid of the Russian Federation and did not want to abandon the conservative view of the bipolar world, where Russia is an element that must be taken into account.

“It had to be broken. And for a certain time the world was breaking down and did not want to admit it. And today they provide almost all types of weapons. Simply given the intensity of the war, that amount of weapons is no longer enough,” said Mykhailo Podolyak.

According to the Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office, significant changes are also taking place in Ukrainian society and the country’s political life.

“Everything will change significantly. There will be new leaders, there will be new political parties. There will be much less pro-Russian mood, no one will speculate, as OPZZh or the Party of the Regions did before, on some specifically pro-Russian slogans. There will be new forces,” Mykhailo Podolyak is convinced.