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Ukraine’s surging problems

Apr 29,2019 - Last updated at Apr 29,2019

So comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has won by a landslide the presidential election in Ukraine against the incumbent traditionalist Petro Poroshenko. But now the “comedy”, if ever there was one, is over, and the time for sober revamping of the country’s domestic and foreign policies is up for serious reflection.

Ukraine is not a small country nor a trivial one. With a population exceeding 44 million and bordering the Russian Federation, the nation is the prize to be coveted or won for both Moscow and the European Union.

Beset by a major military crisis in the east of the country, where Ukrainian soldiers have been battling Russian-backed militias for many years now, and part of the country’s Crimea already annexed by Moscow, the agenda of the new leader is full of pressing issues, including a set of domestic problems ranging from rampant poverty to widespread corruption.

Zelensky should first find a solution to the war in the east of his country that has claimed the lives of no less than 14,000 Ukrainians in order to set the stage for normalising relations with Moscow, and, perhaps, providing the basis for dealing with the grand crisis triggered by the occupation and then annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must be prepared to be in a talking mood with the new Ukrainian leadership, including finding a modus operandi for the Crimean problem. Putin cannot expect to forge new relations with Kiev based on friendship and cooperation without touching upon the Crimean problem. The national security and stability of Russia is at stake. At the end of the day, Moscow has to decide what it values more; friendship and cooperation with Kiev or continued occupation of Crimea. Moscow cannot have both!

Accordingly, as Kiev seeks to open a new chapter with Moscow, the latter must be prepared also to turn a page with Ukraine. Mutual overtures for warmer relations must come from both sides. The countries in the “neighbourhood” will be watching very closely how relations between Putin and Zelensky develop. There is not much time left for both nations to repair their bilateral relations. Surely, both sides understand that the existing window of opportunity for warmer relations may not be enduring.

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