Олександр Мережко

By John Rossomando    |   Thursday, 29 October 2026 07:21 AM ED #Ukrainians are united in their refusal to surrender to #Russia, Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, told #Newsmax. There's no daylight between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his political opposition when it comes to refusing to surrender to Russia. This includes parties and groups opposed to #Zelenskyy's policies and critical of alleged corruption in his administration. Merezhko added that #Ukraine is fighting its War of Independence from Russia. He noted his fondness for American history, saying his studies of the American Revolution have reinforced that conviction. It took eight difficult years before the British recognized American independence, which might not have been achieved without diplomatic, economic, and military support from France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The current war also bears similarities to the War of 1812, sometimes called the "Second War of Independence," because #Britain continued to challenge America's rights as an independent nation after the Revolutionary War. The #British continued to seize American ships and support Native American resistance to the United States. The war ultimately helped solidify American sovereignty and Britain's acceptance of it. Russia repeatedly recognized Ukrainian independence, first in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union, again in 1994 through the Budapest Memorandum, and finally in 1997 with the Friendship Treaty signed by Russian President Boris #Yeltsin. Russian President Vladimir Putin has since declared that southern Ukraine, a region he calls "#Novorossiya" in a reference to its tsarist-era name, has always been Russian territory. Putin has also claimed there is no "genetic" difference between Russians and Ukrainians, remarks critics view as an attempt to deny Ukraine's distinct national identity. Most Ukrainians speak Ukrainian, a language that shares linguistic similarities with Polish and Russian. Merezhko noted that President Donald Trump's attacks on Zelenskyy have created a rally-around-the-flag effect, boosting the Ukrainian leader's popularity. According to polling conducted Oct. 8-9, 43% of Ukrainians said they trusted Zelenskyy, while 52% did not. From Oct. 10-16, the percentage who said they trusted Zelenskyy rose to 57%, while the share distrusting him fell to 39%. Across the full Oct. 8-16 survey period, 54% of respondents said they trusted Zelenskyy. Of those, 22% said they trusted him completely, while 32% somewhat trusted him, the Kyiv Independent reported. The polling appeared to support Merezhko's observation that Ukrainians tend to dig in their heels when confronted with outside pressure. He noted that Ukrainian culture is more individualistic than Russian culture, which he believes partly explains Trump's failure to drive a wedge between Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. Trump has said Zelenskyy needs to go, but Merezhko said he believes Trump's criticism has increased Zelenskyy's chances of reelection if an election were held. "We're a democracy, and people have different views. He's been criticized by the opposition, and that's normal. It's the sign of democracy," Merezhko said. "If there were elections today he might win and have increased chances. They might not be 100%." Zelenskyy has become a symbol of the Ukrainian people on the international stage, and many Ukrainians view attacks on him as personal attacks on their besieged nation. "He is being supported by all of the Ukrainians including by the opposition. They don't criticize his foreign policy. We are united, and we need to survive," Merezhko said. "And when he is insulted by Trump, of course, people rally around him because he is our symbol. He is a world leader." Merezhko argued that Trump would be unlikely to secure the concessions he seeks even if another Ukrainian president replaced Zelenskyy, given the public's resistance to surrendering territory. Merezhko said the president would be hard-pressed to find a Ukrainian leader willing to sign a surrender agreement because other major political figures would likely approach negotiations with Russia in much the same way. A recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that 61% of Ukrainians oppose giving up territory in exchange for peace. Many Ukrainians distrust Putin and Russia because of Moscow's history of statements about Ukraine's territorial integrity that were later contradicted by its actions. Even those opposed to Zelenskyy's policies or critical of corruption in his administration support his firm stance against Russian demands and American pressure for concessions. Ukrainian leaders regard Russian assurances that Moscow does not seek additional territory as unreliable. In August 2008, the Russian Embassy in Washington told The Bulletin in Philadelphia that Moscow recognized Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea. "Control of Crimea has never been disputed," embassy spokesman Yevgeny Kahorishko said. "There is no question that Ukraine has sovereignty over Crimea. It is false to say that Russia poses any threat to Ukraine's safety or security." That position was consistent with official Russian policy at the time. "Crimea is not a disputed territory," #Putin said in an August 2008 interview with Germany's ARD television. "There has been no ethnic conflict there, unlike between South Ossetia and Georgia. Russia has long recognized the borders of modern day Ukraine." Iryna Fedoriv, founder of the anti-corruption NGO Holka, meaning "Needle" in Ukrainian, told Newsmax that most Ukrainians see Putin as the central problem. She acknowledged that corruption in Zelenskyy's administration remains a concern but said Ukrainians must unite in the face of Russia's invasion. Holka has routinely criticized Zelenskyy's government over corruption. Despite those criticisms, Fedoriv insists that Ukrainians must stand together against Russia. She also rejects Trump's efforts to blame Zelenskyy for the war's continuation. "There's nobody to blame but Russia," Fedoriv said, adding that most Ukrainians have been satisfied with their country's foreign policy. "But no one is happy with what Trump was saying." Fedoriv and Merezhko said Ukrainians distinguish between the American president and the American people, rather than viewing Trump's statements as representative of the United States. "We are not Russians. We are Ukrainians," Fedoriv said. "I think that Vladimir Putin is wrong, and we really want to be part of the European Union. Can you name a single country in the European Union where the people went to the center of the capital city and they were dying to get into the European Union." Merezhko told Newsmax that Ukrainians wanted to follow the example of their #Polish neighbors, who traded Soviet-era economic hardship for greater prosperity after joining the European Union. He dismissed Russian claims that the 2014 revolution that ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was organized by the CIA or the U.S. government, arguing that the uprising was too large and driven by genuine public frustration. Yanukovych had broken his 2010 campaign promise to bring Ukraine closer to the West and instead worked to strengthen its ties with Russia. Many Ukrainians believed Yanukovych was turning their country into another #Belarus, which is closely aligned with Moscow. The former president was also accused of bringing Ukraine's intelligence agency, the SBU, under the influence of Russia's FSB. Both agencies trace their origins to the #Soviet-era KGB. For many Ukrainians, surrendering to Russia would mean losing their independence. They remain determined to resist Moscow to preserve the freedoms they enjoy and fear would disappear if Putin achieved his objectives. Consequently, any peace agreement that ends Ukrainian sovereignty would face widespread opposition. John Rossomando ✉ John Rossomando is an experienced national security and counterterrorism analyst and researcher who writes for Newsmax and has been featured in numerous publications and has been consulted by numerous U.S. government agencies. © 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved. newsmax.com/platinum/ukraine…