A well-known American journalist broke the news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to remove the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army from his post because he bypassed the president for secret negotiations with the West.
In the past few days, foreign media have been full of rumors that Zelensky wants to remove the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Zaluzhny, from his post. According to the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, Zelensky met with Zaluzhny on January 29 and asked him to resign as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, and promised him to serve as an adviser to the Ukrainian government or secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, but General Zaluzhny refused. Zaluzhny made it clear to Zelensky that even if he resigns, the situation on the battlefield is unlikely to improve quickly.
Today, the Russia-Ukraine war is at a critical juncture. On February 2, RIA Novosti reported that Seymour Hersh, a Plinzer Prize winner and a well-known American journalist, broke the news in a column that Zelensky wanted to remove Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because previously, Zaluzhny, as the military leader of Ukraine, had bypassed the president and negotiated with Western countries to end the armed conflict with Russia.
Since last fall, Zaluzhny has reportedly met secretly with officials from the United States and other Western countries, either directly or through his aides, to discuss how to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia and end the war. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army committed a big taboo behind the back of the presidential officer, and Zelensky did not agree to peace talks with Russia, so he was very annoyed by Zazhlune's small actions.
In addition, the United States and the West have doubts about Zelensky's ability, believing that Zaluzhny's idea has the potential to start the Russian-Ukrainian peace process, and intends to support Zaluzhny in promoting reforms in Ukraine, which will lead to a change of power in the current president. Therefore, Zelensky wants to strike first and take Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army and remove the threat to his own presidential throne.
It stands to reason that Zelensky's conversation with Zaluzhny is highly classified, and as for how it was circulated, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova believes that the United States may have been eavesdropping on Zelensky and Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for a long time, so she knew the content of the conversation.
In fact, there are rumors that Zaluzhny not only negotiated with the United States and the West behind Zelensky's back, but also secretly negotiated with the Russian army. On December 1, the Greek Pentapostagma website reported that Hersh, a well-known American journalist, broke the news that the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Zaluzhny, with President Zelensky behind his back, is conducting peace negotiations with the chief of the general staff of the Russian army in order to reach a ceasefire and possibly achieve peace on Moscow's terms, and all this is done behind Zelensky's back.
Zelensky wanted to let Kirill Budanov, the current head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, or Alexander Syrsky, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, replace Zaluzhny as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after taking Zaluzhny, but the two of them "refused at the last moment." On February 1, British expert Alexander Mecuris said that Zelensky wanted to get rid of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, but was resisted by General Zaluzhny, and Ukraine was close to breaking out into a serious political crisis.
It is worth noting that the conflict between the Ukrainian president and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army has made the United States and the West seriously dissatisfied. On February 1, RIA Novosti, citing the Berliner Zeitung, revealed that if the conflict between the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny and President Volodymyr Zelensky escalated, the United States would rather support Zaluzhny than Zelensky. Some Ukrainian observers have also said that the United States will prefer the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Zaluzhny, as the president of Ukraine rather than Zelensky.