Ukraine, Stefanini: “Reshuffle reflects war wear and tear, not power struggle”

There are certainly “various factors”, including “elements of tension and nervousness”, that form the backdrop to the major government reshuffle wanted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but this political operation “reflects above all the wear and tear that would occur in any country after almost two and a half years of war”. This was stated in an interview with Adnkronos by the former ambassador to NATO and scientific advisor to ISPI, Stefano Stefanini, according to whom the reshuffle also arises from Zelensky’s desire to present himself with a “more close-knit” team in the perspective of “a possible negotiation with Russia and a possible cessation of hostilities after the American elections”.

Ukraine is going through a “particularly delicate” phase because it is on the offensive in Kursk but on the defensive in Donbass, where there is a limited Russian advance, explains Stefanini, according to whom it is not unusual for there to be tensions “on the internal front” in a war on how to manage the country and what the political priorities are. “As in football, in the second half the teams change many players” to deal with “tiredness and wear and tear”, the ambassador points out, according to whom “there will certainly be differences of opinion and on who should decide, but it is a physiological fact. I would not call it a struggle for power”.

Stefanini believes that Ukraine wants to be “in the best possible condition” from a military and political point of view in view of a possible negotiation with Russia and the inevitable ‘pause’ in the fighting due to weather conditions. “There are still two months at most in which the war can be moved. So for Ukraine it is important to resist the Russian offensive in Donbass and consolidate territorial gains in the Kursk region after which it will enter the long winter break – he adds – The American elections will tell both Ukraine and Russia what to expect from the new Administration in Washington”.

The ambassador then intervenes in the debate – fueled in an interview also by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair – on whether or not the West should allow Kiev to use its weapons on Russian soil. “The attacks or in any case the Ukrainian military actions on Russian soil such as the one underway in Kursk are not an aggression against Russia,” is his consideration.

These types of operations are part of the “defensive” war that Ukraine has been fighting against Russia for two and a half years, Stefanini continues, according to whom “it is normal in a war of this type that the attacked party tries to respond also with changes to the front”. Moreover, Stefanini does not fail to underline, Kiev has indicated “very clearly” that it is not seeking “territorial annexations, unlike Russia”.

Italy has always been firmly against using its weapons to strike in Russian territory. “This is part of bilateral relations, of the conditions under which these weapons were granted and responds to assessments, in this particular case it is a political assessment of the Italian government, but they have – in my opinion – nothing to do with the defensive nature of the Ukrainian war, even in that part that takes place in Russian territory”, concludes the ISPI advisor, according to whom Ukraine “is not targeting St. Petersburg or Moscow”, but is trying to “open a second front in neighboring territory”, while Russia continues to strike targets “in depth” as recently done in Lviv.