[56754] The Storm Over Iuliia Mendel's Remarks: Allegations Against Zelensky in an Interview with Tucker Carlson

The Storm Over Iuliia Mendel's Remarks: Allegations Against Zelensky in an Interview with Tucker Carlson

A political storm erupted following an interview conducted by Iuliia Mendel, the former presidential spokesperson, with American interviewer Tucker Carlson. According to reports by Переможний Магдіяж, СУСПІЛЬНЕ НОВИНИ, and REITERS 🇺🇦, Mendel presented a series of harsh accusations against Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that he is nothing more than an "actor" lacking empathy and that he is "prolonging the war" deliberately to maintain his political power.

The central claim that drew widespread criticism was also raised in Цензор.НЕТ and Фокус: Mendel claimed that during the negotiations in Istanbul in 2022, Zelensky supposedly agreed to "give up the Donbas" in favor of Russia, and that the move was blocked only after the visit of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Mendel even went further, claiming that as early as the 2019 Normandy Summit, Zelensky promised Putin that Ukraine would not join NATO.

The Office of the President of Ukraine reacted with fury to the remarks. According to Цензор.НЕТ, officials in Kyiv denied Mendel's words entirely, emphasizing that she "did not take part in diplomatic processes," "did not have access to high-level decisions," and that these are baseless claims by someone described by the administration as someone who "has long not been in good health."

At the end of the interview, Mendel chose to address Russian President Vladimir Putin directly in Russian, calling to "stop the drone strikes" on civilians, while using rhetoric speaking about how "Slavs are killing Slavs." Commentators in various Ukrainian sources note that Mendel's words suspiciously align with the narratives of Russian propaganda disseminated with the aim of undermining the legitimacy of the leadership in Kyiv.