Authors

Discussion

This paper identifies prominent lines in Ukraine’s strategic narrative between 2014 and 2022, and traces how those lines developed over time, paying attention to changes and continuities. The paper is based on analysis of a corpus of over 2,100 statements that were published by the Ukrainian presidential website during the administrations of Oleksandr Turchynov, Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The paper demonstrates how issue-defining lines, identity-defining lines and action/outcome-oriented lines are interwoven to make up the strategic narrative as a whole. It identifies the transition from Poroshenko’s presidency to Zelenskyy’s as a significant turning point in lines defining Russia’s identity, as well as lines about how peace might be achieved.