Just as Trump "owes" Putin, does Zelensky "owe" Kolomoisky?

In my last blog entry I wrote that,

"They say that when you are handed the scepter of power, that symbolic staff that signifies the power that you wield, is when that power courses through your veins giving you a false sense of infallibility. 


And so it is that, speaking to Ukraine's parliament, the Rada, shortly after being sworn in as President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky (left),

" ... immediately called parliamentary elections in the hope that an early poll will help him to consolidate power after his landslide victory." (Roman Olearchyk : Financial Times : 20 May, 2019) (my emphasis)

Vladimir Isachenkov and Efrem Lukatsky (right) now report that,

"Ukraine’s new president on Tuesday formally ordered Ukraine’s parliament to dissolve and called an early election for July, hoping to ride the wave of his electoral success to get his supporters into parliament." (Washington Post : 21 May, 2019) (my emphasis)

They continue,

“Zelenskiy is trying to act as quickly as possible, because he realizes that voters’ excitement will cool down in half a year,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kiev-based independent think-tank Penta." (ibid Vladimir Isachenkov and Efrem Lukatsky) (my emphasis)

 Zelensky should, however, be aware that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about Ukraine among other issues in a conference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Putin emphasized the need for the Ukrainian government to enact legislation granting special status to the rebel regions in line with a 2015 Minsk agreement sponsored by France and Germany, according to the Kremlin. Putin also noted that the Ukrainian government must establish direct dialogue with the rebels." (ibid Vladimir Isachenkov and Efrem Lukatsky) (my emphasis)

If the "cosy" triumvirate of Putin, Merkel, and Macron is causing Zelensky to shift his eyes towards Trump as his political saviour in his trying to come to grips with Putin's war with Ukraine, Zelensky may be wise to consider the fact that the collusion between Trump and Putin led to the lifting of US sanctions against Oleg Deripaska (right), one of Putin's closest 'siloviki' members, to clear his multi-million dollar investment in an aluminium plant in the US.

As Rachel Maddow (22 May, 2019) reports (video below), more information is now emerging about the corrupt relationship between the lifting of these sanctions against Deripaska and the ardent Trump protector, the leader of the Republican majority in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell. (left)

Now just yesterday (21 May 2019), the Moscow Times reminded us that,

"Newly inaugurated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked U.S. officials to step up sanctions against neighboring Russia in one his first foreign policy actions.

“I would like to urge the United States to keep increasing sanctions against [Russia],” Zelenskiy said in a meeting with U.S. lawmakers and Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Monday." (The Moscow Times : 22 May 2019) (my emphasis)

Yet, as Rachel Maddow reports Trump is, through the actions of Mitch McConnell, surreptitiously decreasing sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki' clan.

Now it should be recalled that these sanctions against Deripaska were instituted due to Putin helping Trump to gain the White House during the 2016 US Presidential elections.

Interestingly, one should not underestimate the extent to which Kolomoiski, through his TV station in Ukraine, assisted in Zelensky becoming president of Ukraine.

Even more interesting,

"President Volodymyr Zelenskiy named lawyer Andriy Bogdan head of his administration.

Both Zelenskiy and Bogdan, a lawyer, have close ties to Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's richest men. Kolomoisky has been in a long legal battle with Ukrainian authorities over control of PrivatBank, the country's largest lender.

For Andriy Bogdan, the new post will not be his first in government. He previously served as deputy minister of justice and deputy minister in charge of anti-corruption policy under Viktor Yanukovich before the former president fled to Moscow during the Maidan uprising in 2014." (Deutsche Welle  DW : 21 May, 2019) (my emphasis)

Bogdan, Zelensky, and Kolomoisky

Just as Trump "owes" Putin, does Zelensky "owe" Kolomoisky?

(to be continued)