Jeffrey Sachs calls Zelensky “puppet” of Western intelligence, criticises interference in Georgia

Renowned economist and global affairs expert Professor Jeffrey Sachs on Sunday criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming he was interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs and alleging he operates under the influence of US and UK intelligence services.

The remarks came in response to comments from former British diplomat and global crisis management expert Ian Proud, who argued that Ukraine has attempted to draw Georgia into the war with Russia.

Proud claimed that, at the beginning of the war, Ukraine hoped Georgia would open a new front in Abkhazia and South Ossetia - Georgia’s Russian-occupied territories - noting that Zelensky had publicly criticised the Georgian Government from the UN podium.

Responding to Proud, Sachs stated that, in his view, Zelensky was not acting independently and suggested he was aligned with US foreign-policy interests. Sachs further claimed that the political system that emerged in Ukraine after 2014 was shaped by Washington. He added that the US President Donald Trump intends to end the war, while portions of what Sachs called the American deep state are seeking to disengage from it.

“Trump is trying to remove him, but Zelensky is part of the system that was created by the Americans during the February 2014 coup in Ukraine. All of Zelensky’s predecessors have also been good students of America, good students of the deep state, since 2014. But now everything is turning upside down - Trump wants to end this war”, Sachs noted.

“Zelensky should, in principle, have other matters to deal with besides interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs, but after all, he is a puppet of American and British intelligence”, he concluded.