Former head of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform for Life Viktor Medvedchuk has ripped into Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the office of President of Ukraine, over his insulting and racially-charged remarks against India as he said that such statements lay bare the mindset of the country's elite.
In the author’s column on the Smotrim.ru platform, Medvedchuk said that the scandalous statement by Mykhaio Podolyak about the “weak intellectual potential” of India and China revealed a serious mindset among those who follow the lead of the West - a ban on thinking about the national interests of their countries.
“The diplomatic scandal that broke out between Ukraine and China over the remarks by the advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine revealed very important trends in the West’s attitude towards the rest of the world. As you know, the cunning masters' plans are revealed by stupid followers, in this case we are talking about a very stupid and small-minded individual,” Medvedchuk further said.
He was referring to when Podolyak uttered a jaw-dropping comment about the “weak intellectual potential” of India and China because these Asian giants are “earning money” from the Ukrainian conflict, “while respecting national interests”.
The politician took a swipe at the Ukrainian presidential advisor, citing Podolyak's own words that respecting national interests is a sign of a country’s weak intellectual potential.
“This reflects not only the opinion of Podolyak himself, but the thinking of the entire elite that the United States is cultivating to govern other countries. After all, he expressed the main credo of such administrators - to never think about a country's national interests. There are interests of the United States and transnational corporations, but the interests of their country ... do not exist at all,” the Ukrainian opposition politician stated.
“As a result, the US economy has grown further, NATO has strengthened, arm dealers and the power of President Zelensky (mired in corruption) have profited off the conflict and the blood of Ukrainian citizens,” the head of Opposition Platform for Life said.
Notably, four days after making the now infamous remark about the “weak intellectual potential” of countries like India and China, Podolyak, while answering a UNIAN correspondent during the Editorial Board Summit event last week, backpedaled and claimed that “he incorrectly used the word intelligence and instead of it he should have said weak analytical potential in terms of assessing the strategic disadvantage of cooperation with the Russian Federation."
His “weak intellectual potential” remark elicited a storm of backlash from China and triggered outrage in India. Beijing even demanded a clarification from Kiev over the statement.
Podolyak went on to say that his words were taken out of context, and resorted to blaming Russia for “distorting the meaning” of his controversial statement.