According to diplomatic sources, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, is going to leave his post in Britain in January. President Zelenskyj was supposed to offer him the chair of prime minister and the post of head of his office.
Valery Zaluzhny is going to leave his post as Ukrainian ambassador to Britain at the beginning of January, the Ukrainian website The New Voice of Ukraine (NVU) reported on Monday, citing four political and diplomatic sources. According to website sources, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces announced his intention to resign a few weeks ago to President Volodymyr Zelensky, reports TASR.
- Valery Zaluzhny is reportedly planning to leave his post as ambassador to Britain.
- President Zelensky proposed various important positions in Ukraine to Zaluzhny.
- So far, Zaluzhnyi has not expressed interest in the proposed political positions.
- There are discussions about his return to Kyiv early next year.
- Zaluzhny was a successful general during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
NVU: Zaluzhny probably wants to return to Kyiv
According to unnamed sources, Zelensky discussed with Zaluzhny during his recent visit to Kyiv what position he could serve in the future – he suggested, among other things, the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine or head of the presidential office, which has been vacant since the recent resignation of Andriy Jermak due to a corruption scandal. But Zaluzhnyi reportedly did not show interest in any of these positions at that time.
Other sources said that for some time Zaluzhny also considered the position of ambassador of Ukraine to the US or chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces. However, no decision has yet been made on this matter, and a change at the embassy in the United States, which has been headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Oľha Stefanišynová since the summer of this year, is not being considered, at least for now.
“Zaluzhnyi probably wants to return to Kyiv, he can announce it as early as January 4 or 5 next year, if nothing affects his decision,” said one of the sources cited by the NVU website.
It is popular in Ukraine
General Zaluzhny led the Ukrainian armed forces until February 2024. After being dismissed from his post, Zelensky sent him to London as Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. He started working in this position in July last year.
He is extremely popular in Ukraine for having planned the counter-offensive that helped liberate significant areas occupied by Russian forces in the first months of the Russian invasion. After the increasing number of failures on the battlefield and the failure of the next counter-offensive, he was replaced by the commander of the ground forces, Olexandr Syrskyj.
The change in the highest post of the army was preceded by weeks of speculation about disagreements between the president and Zalužny.
