The purpose of the study is to analyze the New Year’s speeches of the President of Poland Andrzej Duda and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The main methods used are linguopragmatic and comparative. The main genre parameters of the text are revealed and the requirements as to its content and structure are outlined. The structural components in the New Year’s speeches of the presidents for 2018–2020 are characterized, and a compari son of Polish and Ukrainian presidential discourses is made. Speech acts that determine the linguopragmatic potential of New Year’s speeches are analyzed. A typology of communication strategies used by the Presidents of Poland and Ukraine in New Year’s speeches to influence the recipients in ritual political communication is proposed. The specifics of New Year’s speeches in Polish and Ukrainian political discourse are determined.