«Ukraine has open borders, regular elections, etc.»: Advisor to the head of the OP Podoliak denies accusations of dictatorship

Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak. Photo: Office of the President

Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak has said that Ukraine is not a dictatorship, as it is an open country with regular elections and a free press.

He said this in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Vasyl Holovanov published on 28 February.

«There are signs of a classic authoritarian government in Russia. In Ukraine, all this is nonsense, and everyone understands this. Why? An open country with open borders, a very competitive information space, a very competitive political space, the sixth president already, regular, even early parliamentary elections, and so on. Well, there are realities, there are emotional words, and there are authoritarian inadequacies. There are not so many non-authoritarian inadequates in the world, but there are people like Putin, who also has a certain inferiority complex from childhood, which is realised in the desire for violence,» said Podoliak.

Commenting on US President Donald Trump's statement calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy «a dictator», Mykhailo Podoliak noted that the real dictator is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

«Putin is a classic dictator. There are no electoral cycles, no elections, no instruments of counterbalance, such as, for example, parliamentarism in the Russian Federation. There is definitely the killing of many opponents,» the politician said.

To recap, Donald Trump denied his previous statement in which he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator.

As a reminder, Trump's National Security Adviser Mike Volz said that relations between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are deteriorating.

In turn, US Vice President J.D. Vance also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his public statements against Donald Trump.

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Dispute in the Oval Office

As a reminder, the meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the United States Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in the White House on Friday, 28 February, was ended early .

According to CNN sources, after the public part of the conversation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended, the American president and his advisers went into a separate room. It was then that Donald Trump finally decided that Volodymyr Zelenskyy «was not in the right place to negotiate», and instructed Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to convey the message that the Ukrainian president should leave.

In turn, after the failure to sign the US subsoil deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States, President Trump and Congress.

In an interview with Fox News, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that such disputes are not good for both sides, but the President of Ukraine cannot «change our Ukrainian attitude towards the Russians» and does not want them to continue killing Ukrainians.

A number of European leaders, as well as American politicians, have expressed support for Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed Ukrainians and Zelensky on the social media platform X with the following words: «Dear Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian friends, you are not alone».

French President Emmanuel Macron also said that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is a state that has been aggressed. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also expressed support for Kyiv, writing: «Ukraine, Spain is with you». President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addressed Volodymyr with the following words: «Be strong, be brave, be fearless».

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said after the argument in the White House that it was time for Europe to unite around Ukraine and strengthen its defence without illusions about «Big Brother».

In his turn, the leader of the «Servant of the People» faction, David Arakhamiia, supported President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the White House dispute and stressed that the head of state wanted to put an end to the war.

After a spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump ordered the National Security Staff to check whether Washington could completely or temporarily stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.