Zakharova Confirms, Greatest Threat to Ukraine Is Its President

Dec. 31, 2021 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, during her regular press briefing Dec. 30, said that the greatest threat to Ukraine is its own President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I think that Zelenskyy himself has become a threat both for Ukraine and other European countries, particularly in terms of preserving democratic principles and foundations,” she said, reported TASS. “Everything that the Kiev regime has been issuing is an immediate and direct threat to Ukraine’s statehood.”

“Ukraine has got out of control for the country’s people, society and elites, which certainly threatens national security,” she continued.

“The most important thing is for European sponsors to understand it because Ukraine is a European country and many of the European continent’s problems are related to it, which is becoming increasingly threatening for our European space. They need to understand it since they have taken to patronize, support and protect the young Ukrainian democracy.”

Zakharova was likely referring to, among other things, the ongoing repression of political opposition in Ukraine, including Viktor Medvedchuk and the Opposition Platform-For Life Party that he leads, and the most recent decree shutting down two broadcast outlets critical of the government.

It was probably in this context that Zakharova warned that there’s a real risk that the Kiev regime will use NATO-supplied weapons against the population of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-declared republics. She was responding to an earlier statement by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in which he complained about Germany’s opposition to arms transfers to Ukraine, calling it unacceptable and stressing that Ukraine was pressing for the lifting of such restrictions.

“This is not the first such statement. In principle, the statements that have been made in line with the proclaimed policy confirm our fears the Ukrainian leadership has no intention to work for a peace settlement of the intra-Ukrainian conflict, but plans to use force against civilians in Donbas,” Zakharova said about Kuleba’s statement. “The way I see it, this issue must not be ignored. The NATO countries should be asked if they realize that the regime in Kiev will be using their weapons and their assistance to shoot at Ukraine’s civilians.”