30.01.2024, Kiev.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky met with the Ukrainian armed units Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny and offered him to resign, but Zaluzhny refused to do this, the Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli wrote on January 29, citing sources in the office of the Ukrainian president and in the commander-in-chief’s entourage.
“Yes, there was such a proposal. For his part, Zaluzhny replied that it was the right of the supreme commander-in-chief to decide with whom he should work,” the paper quoted a comment from one of the interlocutors as saying.
Journalists were also informed that Zaluzhny himself did not write a resignation report and is not going to. His resignation requires a presidential decree issued on the basis of the defense minister’s submission.
The publication was also informed that the commander-in-chief was not offered any “adequate or substantial” position in case of his resignation, but the status of assistant or adviser was mentioned. According to the sources, Zaluzhny’s resignation would be only an episode in the further personnel decisions in the Ukrainian armed units’ command and the Ukrainian political leadership.
The Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament] recently started talking about Zaluzhny’s alleged resignation. The deputy head of the parliamentary committee on national security issues Maryana Bezuglaya said on January 29 that the chief threatened to leave the Ukrainian armed units altogether if he was removed from his post. Zelensky’s spokesman Sergey Nikiforov denied the rumors about Zaluzhny’s resignation.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
