Ukraine: Global - Ukraine's most loyal ally – Poland and the importance of the NATO Summit in Vilnius for Ukraine

Ukraine's most loyal ally – Poland and the importance of the NATO Summit in Vilnius for Ukraine

05/26/23 • 16 min

This edition of Ukraine Global is about Ukraine's most loyal ally – Poland and the importance of the NATO Summit in Vilnius for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an international voyage to Europe. One of the countries he visited was Poland.

RUI's Viktoria Kriukova talked with Anton Shekhovtsov, a Ukrainian political scientist, academic, and writer. He believes that a lot depends on the July NATO summit in Vilnius. That is where diplomacy can help to get more weapons for our soldiers. How awful it may sound, but war times became a period when you would know who your real enemy and friend were. We know who our enemy is, and now Ukrainians know that Poland is definitely Ukraine's biggest friend and ally. Despite many historical disagreements – we found a common language and united before the enemy's eyes. Now everyone is waiting for Ukraine's counteroffensive, and we keep our fingers crossed for Ukrainian soldiers to show good results on the battlefield and Ukrainian diplomats behind closed doors of the summit in Vilnius.

Previous Episode

The long-waited counteroffensive of the Ukrainian military

Everyone is waiting for a miracle to happen. Recently the Ukrainian Armed Forces showed promising results on the battlefield giving hope to every Ukrainian that soon our land will be liberated 100%. Julia Bidenko, an analyst of the Centre for East European and International Studies, says that Ukrainian soldiers protect their motherland and family, not officials in the capital. Most of Ukrainian society supports the continuation of the counteroffensive and is ready for a long war. Ukrainians and foreigners supporting Ukraine are waiting for a massive counteroffensive from our military to happen.

Over more than a year of this bloody war with Russia Ukrainian military showed the ability to protect our native land and kicked the asses of Russians a lot of times. They liberated the city of Kherson, launched a counteroffensive in the Bakhmut, Donetsk region, and, in general, did a lot the world didn't expect from Ukrainian soldiers. Still, the enemy prevails in number and military ammunition. So, the only possible solution is the realisation that we need to take it slow- step by step, driving the enemy out of our land. Although, it doesn't stop us from believing that it will happen sooner than later.

Next Episode

undefined - The importance of maintaining the image of a strong political leader of a country at war, and how Ukraine has been shaping its image abroad

The importance of maintaining the image of a strong political leader of a country at war, and how Ukraine has been shaping its image abroad

Every politician suits a particular time and epoch. And their actions and image are necessary and helpful for the country he leads at that time. In 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy helped shape the image of America. Winston Churchill was the face of Britain in the times of the Second World War. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba have been working on keeping up a good image of Ukraine abroad. These are just some examples, because we also need to talk about simple people who help build the country, not just public figures.

Considering all this, we can agree that the image of the country’s leaders plays an important role in framing the image of the country they head. Over the last year, Ukraine transformed into a potentially successful and influential. European state from a corrupt country with a weak political class. In some way, the war helped unite the population around one enemy. We are just at the beginning of the Ukrainian success story. And we hope that inner conflicts inside the country will not stop us from promoting a good image of Ukraine abroad.