So, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has finally decided to fill the long-vacant vacancy in London by appointing Ukraine’s ex-Army Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi to this post. This is his prerogative.
At first glance, I'm happy that this inexplicably long delay in filling this important post has been addressed. That a replacement for the previous very capable ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, dismissed in July 2023 at the whim of the president, has been identified.
The UK, after all, has become, Ukraine’s major ally and maintaining diplomatic relations at the appropriate level is critical.
There was no excuse for Zelensky and his team to have sacked Ukraine’s ambassador in London, the very capable Vadym Prystaiko, in the abrupt and unexplained way as was done, and to have delayed for so long in appointing a replacement. Unless, someone high up had an interest in this?
Now, as a Brit of Ukrainian origin committed to Ukrainian matters, I’m not at all happy with the choice of the replacement and am convinced it invites more questions than it offer solutions.
Why is Zaluzhny suddenly being moved to London His reassignment to the UK is indeed a very strange decision. Surely the former military chief is still needed in Kyiv to help direct Ukraine's military efforts rather than abroad?
More to the point, who in Kyiv might want him out of the way? Zaluzhny is after all still the most popular figure in Ukraine at this moment. For some time, he has been at the top of the political popularity polls in Ukraine, above Zelensky himself. And the latter is reported to be very sensitive about his ratings.
Eurotopics: Ukraine - What Will The Change of Military Chief Achieve?
Here, as a Brit, I recall the case of Henry II in the 12th centry who when confronted with the growing authority of a close dissenting associate, the arcbishop Thomas Becket, asked out loud: “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?” Shortly afterwards some of his cronies took his request at face value and murdered his friend and critic.
I’m not suggesting it's assassination in this case but sending a potential political rival into honorable exile and thereby removing him from the domestic political radar screen is another form of political neutralization of a possible political rival.
What will Zhaluzny’s added value be in London? Does he have the requisite diplomatic experience and skills? How good is his English?
Will Zaluzhny be seen as a political reject by Zelensky’s inner circle in need of a respectable anchorage, rather than a veritable new conduit between Kyiv and London?
Are there is no shortage of other senior Ukrainian diplomats awaiting and deserving new assignments who could have filled this important niche? I think, among others, of the former foreign ministers Andrii Deshchytsia, and Pavlo Klimkin, or the former Ukrainian Representative to the UN, Volodymyr Yelchenko.
And for that matter what happened to the candidacy of former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov for the post of ambassador in London? It was initially presented in the media as a foregone conclusion. Why the lack of transparency in his case?
All this regrettably seems related to the gradual usurpation by Zelensky’s inner team of the role of the foreign ministry and concentrating decision making and appointments policy in its hands.
For a democratic country heading for Europe, this is not good, nor acceptable. Someone has to ask: Hey, what’s going on? It is my duty as a journalist to flag this issue.
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Comments (14)
Has General Valerii Zaluzhnyi actually accepted the job?
@Wayne, Don't you fret. Ukraine will be just fine once russia is defeated. The allies will come around on using frozen and future confiscated russian assets to pay for all war related costs.
The list of sovereign nations applying to join the EU and NATO grows bigger each year. Yep they lose some flexibility, but they gain protection from invading thugs like putin. This more affordable group protection plan lets them allocate more resources towards other benevolent pursuits.
In contrast the list of nations wanting anything to do with putin's version of russia grows shorter. No one wants to join a military alliance with a country that plots to move its people into an allies territory only then to invade it under the false pretence. No nation wants to be associated with a repeat of the rashist policy of russia's NAZI'esque regime.
The world has moved on from bowing to hateful oppressive despots. It fights back before despots can gain decisive traction. Russia is now being taught a hard lesson, and will for generations live with the consequences of failing to elect leadership that learnt this lesson
@troll Jack BRiben griffin" REMAINS A SHAMELESS IDIOT, Yeah it sure is too bad putinrump told his MRGA minions in Congress to not approve any potential fix to the border. Also too bad his cronies embezzled the money privately raised for the border, and were subsequently pardoned by putinrump.
Regarding the natural process of aging that afflicts humans, putinrump is also now slurring and getting names mixed up. He never did have a grasp for facts anyways as illustrated by his +30,500 lies told in office. It's also too bad that putin's regime is funnelling refugees including some criminals to all allied borders. It's too bad some voters don't understand that taking out putin greatly reduces problems.
New leaders will rise to better protect the interests of their electorate and all species in general. Ones that do not lie, break laws and sow dissent like criminal sex offender putinrump. If the remaining decent Republicans can shake their putinrump fixation and their MRGA plants, they might even someday be able to produce one. They are not ready yet though.
Until then the world remains better off with any Democrat leader. Even if that remains Biden in his old age, at least he served the USA for +50 year without incurring any felony changes. Putinrump got 91 felony charges in just 4 years of dis-'service'. He was even involved in +4000 lawsuits before getting elected with putin's support.
Zelenskiy is in a very precarious place now. He had sold out Ukraine to Klaus Schwab-WEF and even if the reality of this bloody war has changed his mind for him to become protective of Ukraine, he cannot tell the Geneva mafia to F-off because he'd be thrown to Putin like a piece of meat.
Now, he has his WEF handler/owners on one side, and the very very patriotic population and UKR military on the other. What will he do?
I would not want to be in his shoes. He's already introducing the WOKE gender, legal pot, freaky American/EU globalist crap into Ukrainian legislation out of pressure from Geneva, and now what??
The UK is a major and active player in the Davos-WEF mafia, so shipping Zaluzhniy to London would isolate him from Ukrainian supporters.
Bohdan, you must realize that Zelenskiy has handlers in Geneva at the WEF headquarters with Herr Klaus Schwab calling the shots. The Davos mafia "owns" Zelenskiy until the Ukrainian people push him out when they see how the elites in Geneva plan to grab Ukrainian assets and the Washington Military Industrial Complex plans to Afghanisize Ukraine for BIG MONEY..
I believe Zaluzhniy was selected by Geneva to go to London because he is a 100% Ukrainian patriot AND a military leader who is loved by most Ukrainians...including the active military and the veterans. He could shut down the Davos plan in Ukraine very quickly by just seeding a social media campaign connecting with the population.
Putting Valery Zaluzhny as Ambassador to UK sounds good ... BUT .... the Russians now have easy access to killing him. He is out in the open in London, not protected by the Ukrainian army. I fear for his life.
Joe BRIBEn just gave one of the most divisive, polarizing State of the Union addresses in the history of the United States. He did so because he does not want to be dropped at the Demagogic Cult convention. He was slurring words. He couldn't get Laken Riley's name right calling her "Lincoln Riley". Laken Riley was the University of Georgia Anthens nursing student who was murdered brutally by one of Joe BRIBEn's illegal alien criminals.
@EUROPE is STEPPING UP AND FURNISH MORE MILITARY AID TO UKRAINE,
False troll 'jack'.
Ukraine's top 30 supporters based on GDP per capita are all European. Highest are the most proximate nations to russia which mostly know what it's like to be under russian occupation.
From the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Aid tracking website as of Jan 15. 2024 these nations include:
Estonia 4.5%
Poland 4.0%
Latvia 2.7%
Denmark 2.6%
Czech Rep. 2.6%
Lithuania 2.5%
Bulgaria 2.4 %
Slovakia 2.3 %
Norway 2.0 %
Germany 1.2 %
GDP Finland at 1.0%
..etc.
To put this in perspective the UK is investing 0.57% GDP and both Canada and the USA invest only 0.32% of GDP in Ukraine support over last 2 years. ON top of this EU institutions (EIB, MFA) have now committed to contribute $77.2 billion in aid directly to Ukraine compared with the USA's direct commitment of $24 Billion.....so >3X more by the EU.
All Ukraine help is needed, utilized effectively and appreciated, which is why putinrumps MRGA USA Ukraine aid stalling is so disturbing.
THE ONLY ENTIRE NATION THOUGH, WHOSE BEHAVIOUR IS DISGRACEFUL, IS RUSSIAs.
The nominal gross domestic product of the European Union is some 72% of the United States nominal gross domestic product, and yet Europe's military aid contribution to Ukraine is just 25% of America's. Europe needs to start stepping up.
@Simple jack ON THIS FORUM CANNOT HANDLE THE Rump
LOL ....Breitbart. From the well cited Wikipedia article on that work of fiction:
"Its content has been described as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by academics and journalists.[8] The site has published a number of conspiracy theories[9][10] and intentionally misleading stories.[11][12]"
"[22] Breitbart News became a virtual rallying spot for supporters of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[23] The company's management, together with former staff member Milo Yiannopoulos, solicited ideas for stories from, and worked to advance and market ideas of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups and individuals.[24]"
"August 17, 2016, Bannon stepped down from his role as executive chairman of Breitbart to join the Trump campaign as its new CEO.[59][60]"
August 20, 2020: Bannon Is Charged for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with the "We Build the Wall" campaign. Putinrump promptly pardons him.
On July 22, 2022 Bannon charged and sentenced to 4 months in prison on 2 counts of contempt of congress related to the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Putin sure picked a few losers for you MRGA to promote.
Meanwhile over at Breitbart the top headline reads:
"Rumor: Zelensky’s Wife Snubs Biden Invite to State of the Union"
You Trump Derangement Syndrome idiots all shelter Joe BRIBEn who is fundamentally responsible for this horrific war to begin, and to allow it to prolong for over two years now.
I'm just dropping every now and then because these comment threads are a psycho ward. Have at it idiots.
@Simple "jack" CANNOT HANDLE THE TRUTH,
Too bad for you MRGA trolls that your fictional narratives are only believed in your own vile circles.
Putin started this war. This is an uncontested fact. Even putin admits it. Is a MRGA trolls now calling their boss a liar? That won't go down well in the Kremlin.
Putin started this war under numerous false pretences and with genocidal intent. All his fictional excuses for starting the war have been well debunked.
Putin and the russian cronies that serve him will now suffer the consequence of a growingly well armed, skilled, tenacious and justifiably angry victim.
Who is better to represent the critical need for military and financial aid at this time than a man like Zaluzhny? Who else knows the needs of his soldiers, has leadership skills, is well liked by his men or has the seen the invader’s cruelty better than him? You underestimate the General.
@Stop Putin, Great, positive post! Good for you!
It could help to coordinate arms supplies between the UK and Ukraine and continue to campaign for US support as well. Though I do understand Ukrainians would like him to stay in Ukraine.
@Ryan, Another great, positive post! Thanks for your positive input! Slava Ukraini!