Abstract. 2019 was considered by many analysts as a kind of milestone. V.Zelenskiy and his party “Servant of the People” won an unconditional victory on the presidential and parliamentary elections and, as it seemed, launched not only a new political cycle, but also a new stage in the political history of Ukraine. V.Zelenskiy for some time had almost unlimited political potential. It seemed that among decisions of many problems the prerequisites were created for finding solutions to the Donbass conflict. However, the political rating of the president demonstrated rapid erosion. Zelenskiy, who come to power riding the populist wave, haven’t a strong and stable political and economic base in the country and clear political preferences. So, under the pressure of the nationalistic groups he is moving in the direction laid by P.Poroshenko in attempts to manage the Donbass conflict, demonstrating a classic example of the “path effect”.