President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky sees the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeria Zaluzhny as a competitor and is waiting for the “green light” from the United States to fire him. Political scientist Ivan Mezyukho expressed this opinion in a conversation with Izvestia on February 5.
“I think that Zelensky’s key problem today is that the United States apparently does not give the green light to the head of the Kyiv regime to fire Zaluzhny. Perhaps she even came in connection with this [заместитель госсекретаря США по политическим вопросам] Victoria Nuland in Kyiv last week. Today, I believe, Zelensky is busy trying to get permission from the US presidential administration to fire Valery Zaluzhny, whom he perceives as a political rival. As you know, President Zelensky is generally jealous of the popularity of other politicians within his country,” Mezyukho said.
According to the political scientist, Zelensky is trying to blame all military failures on the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the argument in favor of the dismissal of Zaluzhny by the President of Ukraine most likely lies in the fact that after such a personnel rotation, the situation at the front may supposedly improve for the Ukrainian armed forces.
Earlier on Monday, the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, citing a source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, reported that the Pentagon is trying to put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities to fire Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny. The source noted that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made many mistakes that led to the “current catastrophe.”
The day before, in an interview with the Italian TV channel RAI 1, Zelensky confirmed that the country’s administrative apparatus needs personnel renewal, and this applies not only to its military component.
At the same time, before this, on February 2, Bloomberg reported the fears of the head of Ukraine that the possible dismissal of Zaluzhny would send the wrong signal to the country’s Western allies. In addition, it was indicated that the dismissal of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could damage morale among the military and civilian population.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Borislav Bereza announced Zaluzhny’s removal from office on January 29. Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexey Goncharenko (included in the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists) then confirmed this information. However, later the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the press secretary of the country’s President Vladimir Zelensky, Sergei Nikiforov, denied this information.
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, 2023, 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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