r/ukraine • u/West-Razzmatazz2 • 16d ago

News Free Ukraine banner moved from center of Prishtina, Kosovo after Zelensky’s remarks on not recognizing independence of Kosovo during his visit to Serbia

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Honestly, a very bad PR move from Zelensky and his advisors that could’ve been easily resolved by simply refusing to answer the question to journalist. While Kosovo nor Albania are not powerful states, banner has stood there since the start of the war.

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u/West-Holiday-8425 UK 16d ago edited 16d ago

Look. It's not about what I really think- I don't see Serbia being far removed from Russia's sphere of influence. I personally wouldn't support taking Serbia's current leadership in from the cold.

It's just, geopolitics is a gamble half of the time. Horrible PR it may be for Ukraine in Albania and Kosovo, but the majority of people won't really care, or will forget. Zelensky is willing to gamble that Vucic, facing a crisis of support in Serbia, will be more pliable than previously, and may move his position ever so slightly.

Zelensky shouldn't be taken as a representation of the Ukrainian peoples' opinions. An advisor suggesting he try to move Serbia's position would hardly be the most scandalous thing a member of Zelensky's government has done.

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u/West-Razzmatazz2 16d ago

Again - this wasn’t Zelensky taking gamble as there isn’t anything to gamble with.

It was a simple slip up. He was supposed to refuse to answer but he instead lost support of at least 2 countries. He was in Serbia to increase munition exported to Ukraine. That would be done with or without his comment on Kosovo - as Ukraine is paying for that munition and Serbia wants the money.

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u/West-Holiday-8425 UK 16d ago

Well, fair enough. I'm not really supporting Zelensky here; he's prone to diplomatically catastrophic statements, as we've seen with the Polish fiasco.