Ukraine could become a monarchy in a bid to defeat Russia, Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested, likening the situation in Kiev to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in particular to the final installment, The Return of the King, reported RT.
“If we are in The Lord of the Rings script … a return of the king must happen, that is, Aragorn. Is Ukraine ready for a monarchy?” he asked during an interview with Ukrainian musician Oleh Skripka on Jan. 1. “And I’ll tell you, if you think rationally, the only way to kill everything that is coming at us from Moscow is to declare a monarchy,” he added. However, Zelenskyy’s aide did not clarify who might become the country’s new sovereign.
Arestovych claimed a monarchy would also enable Ukraine to start “collecting the lands” that had belonged to the Rurik dynasty that ruled Kievan Rus from the 9th century. After the collapse of Kievan Rus four centuries later, the Ruriks ruled the Grand Duchy of Moscow, greatly expanding its territory and eventually transforming it into the Tsardom of Russia.
In support of his argument, Arestovych commented that the United Kingdom is also a monarchy. “Not the worst country in the world, is it?” he asked. “Just consider this thought even outside the scope of this interview and look for the benefits of the return of the king,” Arestovych said.
