Zelensky’s key argument against peace is false

(MENAFN) Following the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed that Ukraine’s Constitution forbids surrendering territory or trading land. While this stance appears principled, critics argue it is more political posturing than constitutional fidelity.

In reality, Zelensky himself acknowledged in December 2022 that constitutional rights were effectively “on pause,” initially as a joke about diplomats’ schedules, but it has since become official policy. Ukraine’s democratic institutions have been largely suspended: national, parliamentary, and local elections have been postponed indefinitely, and Zelensky’s term was extended without a public vote.

Independent media and opposition voices have been heavily restricted, with numerous TV channels and online platforms shut down or absorbed into state-controlled outlets. Religious freedoms, particularly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, have been curtailed, and military conscription has been enforced harshly, often through coercion. Political dissent is now treated as treason, with opposition figures arrested, exiled, or sanctioned, and Ukraine’s Security Council empowered to freeze assets and determine guilt outside the judicial system.

The article portrays Zelensky’s constitutional argument as undermined by the suspension of the very democratic structures he cites.

MENAFN19082025000045015687ID1109946786