Belkovsky, who said he took part in the 2004 Orange Revolution as a political strategist, spoke about the debates between Volodymyr Zelensky and Petro Poroshenko, the reasons Yulia Tymoshenko failed to make it into the second round, and how Moscow assesses the Ukrainian candidates. He also commented separately on the psychological type of the Russian president.
On the Debates and Zelensky
Belkovsky argued that Petro Poroshenko had no chance in the debates: in his assessment, Zelensky is "alive, easy, cheerful," while Poroshenko is "pompous and heavy." The analyst said Zelensky possesses "brilliant political intuition" and compared him to the young Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, as well as to Emmanuel Macron. He considered Zelensky's victory a foregone conclusion.
According to Belkovsky, politics "is not built on listing facts and figures," and he cited Reagan and Winston Churchill as examples. Kompromat against Zelensky, he argued, "won't work," because he is "Teflon."
On Tymoshenko and Smeshko
Belkovsky explained Tymoshenko's failure to reach the second round by, among other things, the efforts of Poroshenko's team. He called the result of Ihor Smeshko a sensation, saying that journalists Dmytro Gordon and Alesya Batsman supported him.
On the Kremlin and Putin
According to Belkovsky, Moscow supported Poroshenko, relying on his administrative resources, while Zelensky is "incomprehensible" to the Kremlin: there they "wind themselves up" with the idea that he is Ihor Kolomoisky's man, although, the analyst argued, that is not the case. Kolomoisky, he said, supports everyone who is not Poroshenko, and Zelensky will make decisions himself.
About the Russian president, Belkovsky said: "Putin's psychological type is not a strategist but a tactician." Answering a question about when Trump will turn his attention to Putin, he noted that this would happen when Putin "blinks."
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