Ukrainian expert: President Zelensky's visit to Donbass is 'playing patriotism' and 'avoiding' war
New Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has a good chance to resolve the situation in Donbass peacefully, his visit to the region shows that he is not interested in continuing the war, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis and Management of Ukraine, Ruslan Bortnik, said.
The day before, Mr. Zelensky, as head of state, for the first time visited the positions of the armed forces on the territory controlled by Kiev in the Lugansk region.
Mr. Zelensky during his visit to Donbass
"I think Zelensky has a good chance of achieving a peaceful settlement in the east, but this will be a very difficult path, which will include many factors - how to reach an agreement with Russia and reach an internal consensus through a referendum, and get serious external guarantees on the implementation of these agreements," Bortnik said on Tuesday in comments to the press.
According to him, Zelensky's visit to Donbass shows that the new president is a person "not interested in continuing the war".
At the same time, Mr. Bortnik noted that from a political-technological point of view, the trip to the east of Ukraine is a long-awaited step.
“To some extent, Mr. Zelensky has just played the role of patriotism, where he feels weakest,” - the expert noted.
Bortnik believes that the visit to Donbass is the right step for the new president.
