Former Zelensky Advisor Arestovich Praises Putin and Promises to Hand Over All Annexed Territories 0 72

Former advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksiy Arestovich, made loud statements in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak on October 6 on her YouTube channel, promising to hold Zelensky accountable as a "war criminal" if he comes to power and to hand over "four regions and Crimea" to Russia, withdrawing Ukrainian troops from there. According to him, this would not be a legal "peace agreement," but a "peace accord," similar to that of the Korean Peninsula, which would establish a line of contact between the parties.

"We sign a peace agreement and restructure the system of relations if Russia shows goodwill, so that the war never resumes along this line," he said.

Arestovich added that he would immediately go to negotiations in Moscow: "I would go to Moscow right away," he said, emphasizing that it would not be humiliating, but "like Sasha Bely [from the popular Russian series 'Brigada'] going to a meeting." He also stated his intention to change Ukraine's political course so that, in his words, "Russia feels safe." "Ukraine will never again create threats to the Russian Federation from its territory. At least I intend to ensure such conditions during my presidential term and introduce continuity of policy," he stated.

In the conversation, Arestovich also did not hold back in praising Vladimir Putin, calling him a "qualified player" and noting that he himself, if in charge of the country, would be "even sharper in foreign policy than Putin."

"I'm not saying he's a role model or a very ethical person who should be canonized. I'm saying: he's a player who makes moves. I always say: make the same moves — and I will praise you too," he added.

Paradoxically, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Arestovich was one of the most prominent Ukrainian figures regularly informing the public about the course of the war; his calm tone and persuasive rhetoric earned him the nickname "the chief psychotherapist of Ukraine." However, in January 2023, he resigned after controversial remarks about a missile strike in Dnipro that killed 46 people. His comments suggesting that the building could have been damaged by Ukrainian air defense drew widespread condemnation and were used in Russian propaganda. After that, he apologized but soon left Ukraine and became a harsh critic of Zelensky, often spreading Kremlin narratives.

The interview was conducted by Ksenia Sobchak, the daughter of former St. Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, who was once Vladimir Putin's boss; Sobchak herself ran for the presidency of Russia in 2018 after consultations with the Kremlin. Her husband, director Konstantin Bogomolov, publicly supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine.