<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="gmail-article__hed" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:2.63rem;line-height:1.1;margin:0px 0px 0.3em">What Would Ukraine’s Comedian Candidate Actually Do as President?</h1><h2 class="gmail-article__dek" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:1.383rem;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2;color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 1.4em"></h2><div class="gmail-article__meta" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(119,119,119);font-size:0.93721rem;display:flex"><p class="gmail-article__byline" style="box-sizing:inherit;max-width:65%;margin:0px;font-size:0.8232rem">By <span style="box-sizing:inherit"><span class="gmail-article__author" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em"><a href="https://slate.com/author/tamara-evdokimova" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(68,68,68);text-decoration-line:none">TAMARA EVDOKIMOVA</a></span></span></p><span class="gmail-article__date" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em;font-size:0.8232rem">APRIL 04, 2019</span><span class="gmail-article__time" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em;font-size:0.8232rem">3:22 PM</span></div><div class="gmail-article__share-sidebar gmail-share-sidebar" style="box-sizing:inherit;padding-top:44px;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:17px"><ul class="gmail-social-share" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;list-style:none;display:block;margin-bottom:0.4em"><a href="https://twitter.com/share?text=The%20inexperienced%20comedian%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20have%20much%20of%20a%20platform.%20%20&via=slate&url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/ukraine-russia-elections-zelenskiy-poroshenko-donbass.html&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_content=twitter_share&utm_source=article" class="gmail-social-share__link gmail-social-share__link--twitter gmail-js-share-link" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(102,102,102);border:1px solid transparent;display:inline-flex;font-size:0.77151rem;line-height:1;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-line:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:nowrap;background:0px 0px;border-radius:2px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em"><span class="gmail-social-share__text" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin-left:0.6em;margin-top:0.2em">TWEET</span></a></li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;list-style:none;display:block;margin-bottom:0.4em;margin-left:0px;margin-top:20px"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?&u=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/ukraine-russia-elections-zelenskiy-poroshenko-donbass.html&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_content=facebook_share&utm_source=article" class="gmail-social-share__link gmail-social-share__link--facebook gmail-js-share-link" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(102,102,102);border:1px solid transparent;display:inline-flex;font-size:0.77151rem;line-height:1;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-line:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:nowrap;background:0px 0px;border-radius:2px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em"><span class="gmail-social-share__text" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin-left:0.6em;margin-top:0.2em">SHARE</span></a></li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;list-style:none;display:block;margin-bottom:0.4em;margin-left:0px;margin-top:20px"><a href="https://slate.com/comments/news-and-politics/2019/04/ukraine-russia-elections-zelenskiy-poroshenko-donbass.html" class="gmail-social-share__link gmail-social-share__link--comments" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(102,102,102);display:inline-flex;font-size:0.77151rem;line-height:1;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-line:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:nowrap;background:0px 0px;border:1px solid transparent;border-radius:2px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.07em"><span class="gmail-social-share__text" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin-left:0.6em;margin-top:0.2em">COMMENT</span></a></li></ul></div><div class="gmail-article__content" style="box-sizing:inherit"><div class="gmail-lazy-container gmail-loaded" style="box-sizing:inherit;background:rgb(248,248,248);width:708.563px;height:0px;padding-bottom:472.375px;overflow:hidden"><img class="gmail-image__src" alt="Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures at an AFP reporter." src="https://compote.slate.com/images/22f2e34f-1ffd-4361-8269-c8805fbe530b.jpeg?width=780&height=520&rect=4224x2816&offset=0x0" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; width: 708.563px; top: 0px; left: 354.281px; height: 472.375px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s; opacity: 1; z-index: 1;"></div><div class="gmail-image__caption" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-size:0.8232rem;line-height:1.5;margin-bottom:0.3em">Ukrainian comic actor and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky talks to AFP reporters in Kiev, Ukraine on March 6, 2019.</div><div class="gmail-image__credit" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(119,119,119);font-size:0.72307rem">SERGEI SUPINSKY/Getty Images</div><h1 class="gmail-in-article-recirc__header" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-image:url("/media/sites/slate-com/stripes-gray.png");background-size:8px;font-size:0.93721rem;font-weight:400;margin:0px;padding:1rem 1rem 0.85rem">Popular in <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics" class="gmail-in-article-recirc__topic" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(255,14,80);text-decoration-line:none;font-weight:700">News & Politics</a></h1><ol class="gmail-in-article-recirc__list" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:1rem;list-style:none"><li class="gmail-in-article-recirc__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:flex"><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/mueller-team-barr-letter-surprised-how.html" class="gmail-in-article-recirc__link" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration-line:none;font-size:0.8232rem;font-weight:700;padding-top:0.4em">Reports: Mueller Team Lived in Magic Fantasy World, Expected Trump to Handle Its Conclusions in Good Faith</a></li><li class="gmail-in-article-recirc__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:flex;margin-top:0.4em"><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/brexit-may-meets-corbyn-as-tory-brexiteers-fume.html" class="gmail-in-article-recirc__link" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration-line:none;font-size:0.8232rem;font-weight:700;padding-top:0.4em">Today in Brexit: As May Sits Down With Corbyn, Brexiteers Are Resigning in Droves and Sabotaging Trains</a></li><li class="gmail-in-article-recirc__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:flex;margin-top:0.4em"><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/jeff-mackenzie-bezos-agree-divorce-settlement-keeps-amazon-control.html" class="gmail-in-article-recirc__link" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration-line:none;font-size:0.8232rem;font-weight:700;padding-top:0.4em">Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos Agree to Gigantic Divorce Settlement</a></li><li class="gmail-in-article-recirc__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:flex;margin-top:0.4em"><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/joe-biden-lucy-flores-tactile-gray-areas.html" class="gmail-in-article-recirc__link" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration-line:none;font-size:0.8232rem;font-weight:700;padding-top:0.4em">Joe Biden Is Not What Matters Here</a></li></ol><p class="gmail-slate-paragraph" style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 1.2em">On March 31, a politically inexperienced comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, <a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-ELECTION/010090W9135/index.html" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">secured</a> 30.3 percent of the vote in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential elections. This was almost twice as many votes as the runner-up, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko. The two men will compete for the presidency in a run-off on April 21.</p><p class="gmail-slate-paragraph" style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 1.2em">Western media is abuzz with tales of Zelenskiy’s background—his only experience in anything resembling politics <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-election/comedian-in-front-as-curtain-rises-on-ukrainian-presidential-election-idUSKCN1RC043" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">comes</a> from playing a schoolteacher-turned-president on a popular TV show. Yet, as the possibility of Zelenskiy actually becoming the next president of Ukraine looms larger, we still know very little about his politics and policy proposals. So, what does Zelenskiy actually believe?</p><p class="gmail-slate-paragraph" style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 1.2em">When Zelenskiy announced his candidacy on New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian and Russian media <a href="https://meduza.io/feature/2019/01/21/komik-vladimir-zelenskiy-mozhet-stat-kandidatom-v-prezidenty-ukrainy-ot-russkoyazychnoy-chasti-strany-rossiya-pohozhe-k-etomu-ne-gotova" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">pegged</a> him as catering to the Russian-speaking southeast of Ukraine. He was born in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which borders what is now the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and is under the control of pro-Russian separatist rebels. His production studio, Kvartal 95, puts out Russian-language content and used to export shows and movies to Russia. During the Euromaidan revolution in 2014, Zelenskiy was even accused by Ukrainian nationalists of participating in “Moscow’s cultural occupation” and contributing to stereotypes about Ukrainians. On the other hand, he actively supported the Maidan movement and even performed for Ukrainian soldiers fighting the pro-Russian forces.</p><div class="gmail-ad gmail-ad--desktopOnly gmail-ad--inArticleBanner" id="gmail-mid-article-spot-1" style="box-sizing:content-box;text-align:center;margin:50px 0px;padding:20px 0px;border-top:1px solid rgb(221,221,221);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(221,221,221);clear:both;display:flex"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_91898098/slate.com/news_and_politics/the_slatest_2__container__" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;border:0pt none;height:auto"></div></div><p class="gmail-slate-paragraph" style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 1.2em">The conflict with Russia was a major part of every candidate’s platform this year, and in Zelenskiy’s case, it seems to be the only topic he could discuss in concrete detail without resorting to sweeping generalizations. In an <a href="https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/articles/2019/01/21/7204341/" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">in-depth profile</a> for the Ukrainian Pravda, Zelenskiy emphasized that his first objective is to stop the killing of Ukrainians on the eastern front. He wants to revisit the Minsk agreements—signed by Ukraine, Russia, and the separatists in 2014 and 2015 to put a stop to the fighting—by negotiating directly with Moscow. Although Zelenskiy is convinced that he can re-negotiate a ceasefire on better terms, he categorically refuses to consider granting amnesty to Russian fighters should Putin ask for it.</p><p class="gmail-slate-paragraph" style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:1.5;margin:0px 0px 1.2em">Zelenskiy is an <a href="https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-47095458" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">outspoken opponent</a> of the current Ukrainian government policy that denies Russian actors, artists, and performers entry into the country. He also wants to revise the language policies that seek to eliminate the use of the Russian language in eastern parts of Ukraine. “We should not marginalize those who speak other languages,” he <a href="http://www.aif.ru/politics/world/kto_takoy_vladimir_zelenskiy_kandidat_v_prezidenty_ukrainy" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:inherit;text-decoration-line:none;border-bottom-width:2px;border-bottom-style:solid">told</a> Russian newspaper AIF. “Everyone knows Ukrainian, if they don’t know it in the east—they’ll learn it. There’s the Ukrainian language, it’s the federal language. But you should be able to speak whatever you want.”</p></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>