The visit of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland to Ukraine came as a surprise. This was reported by Strana.ua on February 2.
“Nuland threw a surprise,” the publication says.
As noted, the official schedule published by the US State Department did not say anything about the visit to Ukraine. At the same time, the publication emphasized that the practice of “unannounced” visits has become commonplace for American politicians after the escalation of the conflict.
Experts believe that the reason for Nuland’s visit was the situation between the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valery Zaluzhny.
“Nuland, as the curator of the Ukrainian direction in the State Department, came to understand who will replace Zaluzhny, what the configuration will be at the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the publication quotes Ukrainian political scientist Konstantin Bondarenko.
In addition, political scientist Ruslan Bortnik also admitted that the Zaluzhny factor played an important role, but Nuland’s visit may be associated with a possible reboot of the government.
Nuland arrived in Kyiv on January 31. US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said that during the visit, Nuland will meet with leaders of the Ukrainian government, veterans and the public. Brink added that the visit would demonstrate “a shared commitment to Ukraine's victory” in the conflict with Russia.
Two days earlier, on January 29, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Borislav Bereza announced Zelensky’s removal of Zaluzhny from the post of commander in chief. However, later the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the press secretary of the country’s president Sergei Nikiforov denied this information.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reacting to these reports, noted that Moscow is monitoring the situation.
Commenting on the situation, the German magazine Der Spiegel noted that Zelensky hoped to organize a “quiet dismissal” of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but his plan completely failed. The Times newspaper, citing sources, in turn, reported that Zelensky changed his mind about dismissing Zaluzhny, since both candidates for his replacement – the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Kirill Budanov and the commander of the Ground Forces Alexander Syrsky – refused to take this post.
The split between the President of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to be talked about after November 1, when Zaluzhny, in an interview with The Economist, said that Ukrainian troops could not achieve a breakthrough because the conflict had reached a dead end. Prolongation of hostilities carries great risks for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he noted. Zelensky did not agree with the opinion of the commander in chief.
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