DISINFO: Ukraine is a colony
SUMMARY
Ukraine today bears all the hallmarks of a colony. It has no political subjectivity. If we had political subjectivity, President Zelenskyy would be meeting any leader directly, rather than waiting for a tentative meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Vienna. Everyone is waiting to see what they will agree on. It is very dangerous when our problems are being solved behind our backs.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media outlets claiming that Ukraine is a weak failed state on the verge of crumbling. It is true that Ukraine has been suffering from enormous economic problems since the start of Russian aggression in 2014. It receives financial and technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and other international financial institutions. Western partners discuss with the Ukrainian government, but it does not mean that Kyiv does not have its foreign policy.
Despite Russia’s opposition, Ukraine's strategic course for EU and NATO membership is enshrined in its Constitution. Relevant amendments were introduced in 2019. Ukraine has still to come a long way to achieve its goals. Relations between NATO and Ukraine date back to the early 1990s and have since developed into one of the most substantial of NATO’s partnerships. Since 2014, in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cooperation has been intensified in critical areas. Ukraine and the EU signed the Association Agreement in 2014. Kyiv has taken on important obligations in several crucial spheres, including the economy, industry and environment protection. See here about the 22nd EU-Ukraine Summit in 2020.
A meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Vienna has been suggested. Joe Biden has been repeatedly stating that Washington supports Kyiv in its struggle against Russian aggression and that Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders must be respected. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv in May 2021, where he met Ukraine’s leadership and reiterated the US support to Ukraine and Washington's commitment to the inviolability of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Ukraine’s political landscape is characterised by much diversity. Ukraine has elected six presidents since it gained independence in 1991, each with his own set of domestic and geopolitical priorities. The tenure of both Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994) and his successor Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) were periods of "multi-vector" balancing between Russia and the West. The pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010) was succeeded by the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014). After the latter fled to Russia in the wake of the Euromaidan popular uprising in 2014, Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019) came to power. His platform was clearly pro-European and explicitly anti-Kremlin. The incumbent, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was elected in 2019, has been trying to achieve peace in Donbas through direct talks with Normandy format leaders.
Read more disinformation cases about Ukrainian statehood.