Iuliia Mendel served as press secretary to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from 2019 to 2021. In this interview with Patrik Baab, she speaks about her break with her former boss, the situation in Kherson, sanctions and political pressure, corruption, NATO, the opportunities for negotiations she believes were missed, and the future of Ukraine.

Sanctions and the denied access to the European Parliament

Patrik Baab: The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsula, did not allow to invite you and to hold a speech in the European Parliament. How do you judge that?

Iuliia Mendel: So I invite everyone to watch my speech because we recorded it. So you can estimate by yourself if there is any threat there. I feel like I’m not the one person who wants peace in Ukraine. This number is growing. I was supported by so many Ukrainians for doing this. I got so many messages from so many regions, even Western regions, and from Donbass, and from Kherson, where I’m from, and from Kyiv, from so many regions. And people are thanking, and they are supporting, and they are looking for those who would speak for them on the international arena and say that the most important thing for Ukraine is peace. And so I didn’t think that this is something that is not allowed to be said in the European Parliament. I really hoped that there is the freedom of speech here because Ukrainians want to be a part of Europe, the European Union. And so we think there is respect for human rights and for freedom of speech and freedom of expression. And here we are. There was no explanation why it happened, but the security told us that that was the head of the European Parliament, Mrs. Metsula, who denied my access. I’ll share with you that in Ukrainian social media there are rumors that Volodymyr Zelensky personally asked Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen and Mrs. Metsula to ban me from entering the European Parliament. Also, Volodymyr Zelensky contributed to it by himself because I connect the sanctions that he imposed on me just a few days before the speech with this speech.

“It doesn’t look like democracy anymore”

Patrik Baab: Would you say Ukraine is a democracy right now? Or is that a kind of Zelensky’s military dictatorship?

Iuliia Mendel: You know, it doesn’t look like democracy anymore. It’s more militarized autocracy. And that’s one of the biggest pains for me, because we used to be, even five years ago, one of the biggest democracies near Russia.

So I was proud of it. You know, I am a meritocratic person. I could write for biggest media outlets.

I could grow. We could collaborate with Westerners, you know. And now it’s all for militarization, for radicalization.

It’s all about limited freedom of speech. Also, because democracy is in such a fragile state, many men, they don’t want to fight. You know, we see the corrupt cases every day.

We see that there is no respect for human rights. We see that the state of Ukraine doesn’t care about the people. So it’s very obvious for me that men don’t want to go to the front line.

They want to leave. They don’t understand why this war is going on. And so, as a response, there is a hunt on the And this hunt is one of the ugliest and disgusting forms of this war.

Men are beaten. They are tortured. Women are fighting for them.

There are shootings already. Men are defending themselves, and families are defending themselves from the state of Zelensky, which is absolutely unacceptable. And then the second thing, when these men are grabbed, anything can happen to them.

Some of them die in conscription offices. Some of them are tortured, and that was revealed by the ombudsman. And then only two or three percent of these men actually get to the front line, and they’re not motivated at all.

And there is a huge corruption between grabbing a man and getting him to the front line. And this corruption is measured in tens of thousands of dollars for one man, and perhaps, by conservative estimates, around $5 billion per year, which tells me that it’s not possible to have a corruption of such a scale without involvement of the top officials.

Kherson: “We’re losing the nation”

Patrik Baab: I think you have a lot of links in your home region as well, and how’s the situation over there?

Iuliia Mendel: It’s terrible. It’s hell. It’s hell of how you can imagine it. Russia escalated using air guided bombs after Zelensky started his 40 days operation. The number of bombs can reach like 14 per day, they’re just disastrous. They’re just like destroying life. There are missiles, there are drone hunting there also. People are just surviving. They merely are thinking about how to, you know, wake up and not to die, then how to get to work not to die, and how to get back not to die. It’s just a pure matter of luck if they survive. And here I’m surprised that people only blame Putin, because I also blame Zelensky. Where is the protection of the civilians? We have 93% of shelters that are not fully prepared to protect anyone. 93% on the fifth year of war. How is that possible? We don’t have close skies. We don’t have missiles. And Zelensky is asking for Patriot systems. But I’ll tell you that in Cherson there was only one missile per month. What is that? Who is going to save? One of the things that I hear from the residents is they are questioning why is it happening that we have so much aid, but it’s fifth winter going to be and volunteers are still gathering everything that’s possible for the soldiers. And sometimes we hear terrible stories from the front when men do not have even water, they drink their piss, I’m sorry. I mean, it is so terrifying. And if it were, you know, the first week or month or year of war, we could think, we need to adapt. Something is wrong there in the system. But I don’t see that there is any motivation to improve the system, because this money doesn’t go to defense. It’s widely said that it is for defense. But how is it defending anyone? I don’t understand. We’re shelling Russia. Russia is shelling us even more. We keep shelling Russia. Russia is keeping more shelling. Civilians are unprotected. They leave whatever they want. And on fifth year of war, it is time to say that strategies just simply don’t work. So, Kherson is one of the regions that has been turned into hell. And third, Ukraine is a hell. 20% is under occupation and 10% is a burning front. People are surviving there. Terrible stories. Terrible stories. Stories that no European countries would ever endure, would never continue if they were going through this. For instance, I was crying today. I mentioned that. I try not to, but in Sumy region, it’s in the north, there was a woman, there was a Russian shelling, and a woman grabbed from the rubble her husband. And she didn’t manage to grab to her daughters of 7 and 10 years. I’m like thinking every time about this. I’m thinking, how can she survive? How can she live with this pain? I don’t understand. The same thing in Krivyi Rih, where Zelensky is from. A family with seven children, erased. Erased, you know. Russia is shelling that. But we did nothing to protect civilians. And we did nothing to stop this war. And we keep continue saying that the only response is shelling Russia back. So, this shelling is not going to save Ukraine. It’s just going to make the situation worse. It’s just going to make the situation more hellish for the people. And we’re losing the nation. We’re losing the nation. We have lost over half of our population. So, this is why I cannot agree with the status quo. And this is why I’m calling for peace, what Ukrainians are saying now. Let’s save the population.

“Yes, I blame Zelensky”

Patrik Baab: And for this terrible situation, you are blaming personally President Zelensky.

Iuliia Mendel: Yes, yes, I do. And Putin, of course. Putin started this war, but Zelensky saw the means to thrive. He has all the power in Ukraine. He has a lot of money flows to his friends. And he’s enjoying red carpets around the world. Of course, I’m blaming him because there were at least five attempts to establish peace. And every next peace deal is worse and worse. But he denied every of them, even undermining the people who helped us achieve those deals. And to be frank, there were some legal interpretations that would help us to retain control over occupied territories with time. But he also denied them. And now I’m afraid that we’re going to lose those territories to Russia and there will be no way to get them back. So, yes, of course, I accuse him because he put his own survival, he put his own well-being above the nation’s interest. And he’s doing exactly opposite from what he promised when he came to power.

How Iuliia Mendel experienced Zelensky behind the scenes

Patrik Baab: You cooperated closely with President Zelensky in the years 2019 to 2021. And you said he enjoyed the red carpets all over the world. So how would you characterize him?

Iuliia Mendel: Oh, he’s a total narcissist. Absolute. And a lying one. Well, you know, narcissism, there is an ordinary feature for every person in different quantity, right? But Zelensky is all about Zelensky. He has a lot of emotions. He doesn’t control them. He often says very opposite things, contradictory things. I had a lot of officials coming to me, lost what he wanted and how to make work to contradictory things. He’s not a strategist. He lives like one day or one week at least at last. So he is a hedonist too. He doesn’t like critics. He doesn’t like negativity, especially he doesn’t like negativity said in face. He was nervous about comments that he read on Facebook. There was this ridiculous situation when we, for the first time, stayed together alone in his cabinet. And he started complaining about some Facebook group. And he said, they’re writing bad things about me. They’re writing bad things about me. And I looked at the group and yeah, there were subscribers. But the thing is that perhaps it was bots because all the posts were getting like one like, and only the post about him was getting three likes, which is like nothing, not 3000 likes, just three likes, you know. And I was surprised that he paid attention to this. I’m like, how on earth did he notice that? Yeah, but that was a big problem. He was like really insisting that that is a problem. And it took me a lot of time to convince him that these are bots and nobody is criticizing him there. It’s not a real threat. And there were a lot of these things. And, you know, I’m writing a book now. And I’ve always finished it. So I hope it will be out soon. And I include all those stories about him. If you want, I can entertain your public so that maybe, you know, they understand his level of thinking. Once I needed to write a Facebook post for him. And of course, I couldn’t write everything. So there was an assistant and I asked him, I came and said, write this, this, this. And I want to do something else. I returned in 10 minutes. He gave me the draft of the text. I edited it and sent to Zelensky for approval. And he calls me and he calls me angry. And he says, am I a woman? And like, imagine yourselves in this position, a president of the country is asking if he is a woman, you can say yes or no, right? Because it’s a ridiculous question. And I’m asking what’s wrong. And I hear that Mr. Yermak, it’s his close friend. And at that moment, chief of staff is sitting and saying something like, it’s a female post, female post. So they thought it’s a female post. And I suggested that, you know, I send this post to another person, a man, and he will check it and edit it. That man didn’t know what to change. But the most ridiculous thing that the assistant who was writing was a man. So I mean, it’s not about policymaking or politics or essence or doing something for the state. It’s all about Zelensky, how he’s been perceived, what are the comments, you know, what he said about him. He’s a PR manager, perhaps the best PR manager in Ukraine. And all his PR is about himself. And there is no substance there.

Patrik Baab: Do you think he’s just an actor who is acting following the interests of other people?

Iuliia Mendel: He’s a fantastic actor. Absolutely fantastic. And populist, of course, because he’s in politics already. But I believe populism is not so bad, unless it’s a very malignant populism. And yeah, he’s really a great emotional manipulator, as I’ve heard from Americans of Biden administration. And he really knows how to play on a camera. It’s like a perfect, perfect acting. Yes.

Patrik Baab: And he’s a drug addict, I heard, or not?

Iuliia Mendel: You know, when I talk about this, even if I don’t confirm this, everything in the interview is only about this. It doesn’t matter what I said else. So I’ll stick to the fact that many people say this, but I didn’t see that.

Maidan, neutrality and NATO

Patrik Baab: MG As far as I learned, you studied in Kyiv and over there you made your PhD. It was just before the events on Maidan. Did you get information on the Maidan?

Did you hear something? Were you involved in some way?

Iuliia Mendel: Well, I think everyone who used to study or work in Kyiv, they were involved to some extent. I was a journalist also. And yes, I was writing my PhD for four years.

And I was at the Maidan. And I think there were a lot of great ideas at that Maidan. And a lot of people believed in those ideas, because it was presented that this is a pro-European way of Ukrainians.

Though with time, in retrospective, I see the faults of that revolution. And I cannot accuse people who believe in it and believed in it, you know, because they were not standing there for something bad. They were standing for some truth.

But I also believe that there are a lot of very, very disgusting and very controversial things that happened there. And I’m not sure that it ended well.

Patrik Baab: How strong was the influence of, for example, the American embassy?

Iuliia Mendel: I’m not sure I would like to comment on this, but I mean, you can see what was happening. It’s not like I was talking to the American embassy at that moment. But there are a lot of videos of different politicians, European and Americans, coming and supporting the issue.

But also they helped negotiate with Mr. Yanukovych, you know, and there was some kind of agreement signed. But then there were some forces that disrupted the agreement. And for some, these people are heroes.

For some, these people are radicals who contributed to a further failing way of Ukraine.

Patrik Baab: You told me Ukraine should be neutral. That means Ukraine should stay outside NATO.

Iuliia Mendel: You know, the very same idea of NATO has died in Ukraine because NATO was created to protect civilians. And if civilians are dying for an idea to be sometimes, perhaps, potentially accepted in 10, 20 or 50 years to NATO, then this idea is dead, right? I mean, it’s not the civilians who need to die for the idea of NATO.

It’s NATO who needs to protect the civilians. So it just doesn’t work in Ukraine.

How Iuliia Mendel came into Zelensky’s office

Patrik Baab: You started your job in the office of Zelensky in 2019. How did you get this job?

Iuliia Mendel: So, yeah, first Zelensky announced this through Facebook. For him it was a joke. I didn’t want to apply because usually presidents are bringing their lies, you know, people didn’t know.

So I didn’t think that I had a chance. I was working with the World Bank then and publishing articles in the New York Times. I know a lot about reforms, you know, and my English was good and so I just, like, people were encouraging me.

So at some point I just sent my CV and they called me. So he announced this job as a joke, but then he hired actually an HR company to move with the process. So I passed several competitions and that looked like a Western company, to be frank.

So I had a competition of video making where I needed to talk about very difficult political issues and they wanted to see how I talk and what my Ukrainian, I’m a Ukrainian speaker. Then, you know, we talked about reforms with the HR company and unless I stayed with Zelensky and his closest team to have the latest interview. So we had a great interview.

I was top five and I was selected. That’s the usual. There were 4,000 candidates and I still do not believe that I got the job, but perhaps the gods will, you know.

Why Iuliia Mendel left the presidential office in 2021

Patrik Baab: When I visited in the year 2021, friends in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kursk, they were farmers. And I talked to a lot of people over there and they all said, we don’t want a war with Russia. Nothing. They wanted peace. They wanted to do their work there. They wanted to manage their everyday lives. And in the same year, you left office in 2021. Did you had some specific informations about a badly worsening political situation or what was the reason for leaving office?

Iuliia Mendel: So, I’ll tell you that again, I think that what Putin did is insanity. It’s wild even to think of sending tanks to Kiev and occupying the land and the inhuman treatment of people that his drones and army are doing. However, you know, we always blame only Putin. And I think that Volodymyr Zelensky also made a lot of mistakes. And I left when there was the article published that I think didn’t need to be published. And in that article, Zelensky gave the interview without preparation. Usually, I was preparing him, but I was in the hospital, so I could not and I was against this interview. But Mr. Yermak wanted to brag that he could organize the interview. That’s the level. And so, Zelensky denied a lot of positions that were pro-Ukrainian. And for instance, he said that Minsk agreements didn’t work. And for Ukraine, it was good to say that it was working, that we could, you know, preserve that fragile peace. Then he said that he wanted Normandy format to be expanded with the United States and the United Kingdom. However, it was not United Kingdom or the United States. It was not agreed. So, it was a surprise for everyone. But it was very irritating for Putin. Yeah, he was wildly promoting NATO issue. But after that article was out, I understood that the dialogue with Russia was closed. Though, at that moment, it was supposed to continue attempts to meet Putin. But yeah, so I wrote my resignation letter. People didn’t believe at the beginning. Anywhere I was going to go, but that really stimulated me. And yeah, I came to the office, and one person said, so that was a good interview, don’t you think? And I said, the interview was good. But tomorrow, Russia is going to close the dialogue. And because I was so deeply involved in every communications that my word could cause, provoke escalation in Donbass, or, you know, some other things, I was very careful with every detail. So here, he was careless, absolutely. And the next very day, Peskov went out and said, there is no one to talk to. It was April 2021. Yeah, so yeah, exactly the article provoked me to resign earlier. Though, I believe there were many more different reasons. And again, it was explained that I had health issues, and I never meant to go against Zelensky. But today, I believe that he is the biggest obstacle to peace. And I believe that I can do something to show the Western audiences that it’s not right, the status quo is not possible, that Ukraine can become a European Afghanistan if this war continues. So I want people to hear me out, and to understand that peace is not pro-Russian, peace is pro-Ukrainian, and that we could become another Finland if we want, but we cannot do this without Western support.

Why she still supported Zelensky in 2022

Patrik Baab: One year later in 2022, you wrote a book and in this book, you supported Zelensky. You still supported him instead of all these informations. Why?

Iuliia Mendel: Why? I’ll repeat it a third time because it wasn’t personal for me. Well, if you read the book, the book is mostly about Ukraine. I’m talking about language, societal development reforms, ideology. But of course, I talk about Zelensky and I put some positives about him. First of all, it was in March 2022 and I was grateful as many Ukrainians, majority of Ukrainians, that he stayed in the country. Also, I stayed in touch with the office of the president and they said that, well, we were all sure, we all knew he was making a peace deal. Like we were so much sure. And something changed in April 2022 and to be frank, right now I’m looking in retrospective, I couldn’t believe that he could prolong this war so long. I just couldn’t believe. It’s even unbelievable for me right now. So again, I would never tell what I think about Volodymyr Zelensky and all these stories about him if I didn’t understand that we need peace, we need peace for survival and he is going against this peace just to stay in power. Because for Volodymyr Zelensky, ending the war is a political suicide. He’s not going to be elected ever. People are super angry at him and he will be at risk. And also, as one of his partners on the wiretapes said that if the war is over, the money is over, you see. So he gets everything he wants from this war. And I didn’t think it would, I couldn’t imagine that. So yeah, perhaps I need to say sorry for writing that. I think I really felt guilt about that. But I’m going to produce another book. That one was a success, not a huge one. I tried to talk about Ukraine, if you see that. I really did. And I still think that I managed to show Ukraine to westerners, you know, ideologically and societally.

Istanbul and the peace opportunities she says were lost

Patrik Baab: And there was a chance to finish the war, to stop the war in early in spring 2022, during the discussions and negotiations in Istanbul. What was the role of President Zelensky in those days?

Iuliia Mendel: So I talked to several people who were present in those negotiations. And as far as I understood, the deal was there. Something happened in April 2022.

Even if you see Zelensky on the 4th of April, there is still a video available when he was traveling to Bucha. Bucha is such a painful memory and history of Ukraine. However, even there, seeing all the hell bodies on the street, Zelensky said to the journalists that we are going to continue negotiations.

I remember that. And I didn’t have doubt that they needed to continue negotiations. And then somewhere around Boris Johnson’s arrival in the middle of April, something changed.

And I know also that the first money laundering scheme started in April too. So I guess Zelensky understood that war was very profitable for him in many ways. And he decided back then that he didn’t need peace.

However, I know that there were still people in the government who were preserving the idea of having peace deal done the same year, November, December. And in fact, they had another opportunity to make a peace deal based on Istanbul agreements at the end of the year. And Zelensky convinced Biden’s administration that we needed to go into war of attrition.

Remember, there was even an American general who was saying, Ukraine will not win the war of attrition. It’s Russia, many times more people, bigger economy, Russia who has done a lot of wars. And no, we ignored that.

He undermined several big facilitated contacts and deals. And perhaps he promised counteroffensive in 2023. The counteroffensive failed by multiple reasons, not only by Zelensky’s interference into the army, but also because Westerners relate with delivery of promised weapons and many, many more other issues.

And, you know, Russians did the fortification. So that was combined a number of factors. But then there was a moment where he could have deal done in 2024.

And people helped with that, some countries. And again, he said, no, after the deal almost was done. So, like, it wasn’t no, he started Kursk operation.

And if you start Kursk operation, it means that actually undermined the deal, because how is it working? You’re making the deal with one hand and starting invasion in Kursk region. And in 2025, there were at least two opportunities to make the peace deal.

So I counted by myself at least five peace deals that could have been done. Every next peace deal is worse and worse. And Zelensky rejected all of them.

And now he sells the idea, which perhaps, you know, sounds brave for the media, but which is, I’m sorry to use this word, it’s bullshit, because this idea is maximalist, unachievable. And this tells me that he doesn’t want to make any peace deal at all.

Patrik Baab: According to your experience, your personal experience, that role played British Premier Boris Johnson in those days.

Iuliia Mendel: I didn’t meet him already in April 2022. I was not there. But these were Ukrainians who said that Boris Johnson interfered and influenced Zelensky, saying that he could be a hero and he could continue that role.

So, yeah, it feels like, you know, British people, British prime ministers, they really want to bleed out Russia with Ukrainian hands.

“Ukraine could become Finland”

Patrik Baab: Do you see any chance to stop the war now? Which ways have to be chosen for that?

Iuliia Mendel: You know, people, smart people are talking about compromises. I cannot talk about that because for me it’s a treason charge. But what I would say that Ukraine could become Finland. And the most important fact for us to preserve our nation. We definitely need to be neutral without entrance to NATO, because right now it just like doesn’t work for us, right? There are a lot of things that we could have done to establish dialogue. There are a lot of people in the West who could have supported us and helped us. But what I see is that Volodymyr Zelensky and his government, they do not want any kind of diplomacy. They created this diplomacy of threats and accusations, and they think it works like that. And everyone who tried to talk to Putin was branded pro-Russian. Remember, Donald Trump is pro-Russian. Mr. Orban is pro-Russian. Mr. Fetsoe is pro-Russian because they talked to Putin. I mean, how do you want to end the war without talking to Putin? So, yeah, I believe that everything now is in the hands of the people. And I know, I know that in Ukraine and in Europe and in America and in Russia, there are sides of the war and sides of peace. So, for me personally, I hope that there are those forces in the West who will become stronger and stronger and help Ukraine finish the war, because the outrage of Ukrainians is so enormous. And there are less and less Ukrainians, and we are speaking out for the peace. It’s not something that can be done in a week or month, but let’s stay hopeful for the next year.

“There is no better condition for peace than now”

Patrik Baab: Do you think European countries should more support the peace initiatives by President Trump?

Iuliia Mendel: Yes, I do. I do. Because President Trump definitely was the first leader in the world who doubted the status quo.

And so many Ukrainians are very grateful for that. And to be frank, when Trump came to his second term, what we’ve got in Ukraine is at least some kind of freedom of speech. Really, people started going out.

Some people suffered that. There was one member of Parliament that, after the victory of Donald Trump, posted, Vova, it’s a mild from Volodymyr, now you need to stop the war. You will lose the elections, but you will stop this war.

And he’s in jail for the fourth year. Immediately. Treason case.

But still, after that, drop by drop, there is some hope and people are still speaking. While they are convicted, they need to leave the country, they are persecuted, but they already speak. And that’s because Donald Trump came to power.

He tried, you know, he tried. He talked to Putin. And look what happened.

First, Zelensky was resisting Donald Trump and his peace proposals. Then Europeans were resisting. You know, they’re like saying that they will create better conditions for peace.

They will demand better conditions for peace. But there is no better condition for peace than now. That’s the only the best condition for peace.

What comes after Zelensky?

Patrik Baab: But that means a precondition for finishing the war, for stopping the war is the end of the era Zelensky.

Iuliia Mendel: Seems to me that you’re right.

Patrik Baab: And who’s next?

Iuliia Mendel: That’s for the people to decide, right? I mean, we want to have democracy, so let them decide.

Patrik Baab: Would you say that you did not reach the end of your career? Would you stand ready if Ukrainian people wants a new face, a personality like you?

Iuliia Mendel: Nobody asked me that publicly. You know, my answer to you will be, for me, this war is so much personal and so much painful. I don’t think about my ego anymore. I don’t have it. It died when the war started. I feel that there is the mission that I need to do. I feel that I am already contributing to peace efforts. And for me, you know, this is something that gives me hope and fills me every day with energy and something that gives me energy to wake up and to have strength to move forward. So I’m grateful. I’m honored that you asked this question. But again, I want the people of Ukraine to say their words and that’s it.

Patrik Baab: And last word, your hopes for the future?

Iuliia Mendel: I believe in the people of Ukraine. We have really great people, highly educated, creative, productive. And since I know a lot of great Ukrainians in businesses, I hope that the war is over, they return and they restore Ukraine. And I am very grateful for all those forces that are rising and who are in power, who try to finish this war. So I stay hopeful for your politicians and for my people.

Conclusion

The interview traces the political break of a former insider. Iuliia Mendel entered Zelensky’s team in 2019, left the presidential office in 2021, and still supported him in important respects after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Today she describes that earlier position with self-criticism and argues that Ukraine needs a fundamental change of strategy.

Her argument repeatedly returns to the human cost of the war. Kherson, civilian casualties, population loss and her fear for Ukraine’s long-term survival form the background to her call for negotiations and neutrality. At the same time, she explicitly refuses to absolve Russia of responsibility for the invasion. Her sharpest accusations against Zelensky, Western actors and Ukrainian institutions remain her own claims and judgments, presented here as she made them in the interview.

The conversation ends by moving from the past to the future. Patrik Baab asks not only who might come after Zelensky, but whether Iuliia Mendel herself would be ready if Ukrainians wanted a new political figure. She does not declare a candidacy. She says that the people of Ukraine must decide. That open answer closes an interview that begins with her experience as a former presidential insider and ends with the question of what political future Ukraine can choose after the war.