President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Ukrainians to remain united, days after a rift between the two leaders emerged as the war with Russia escalates.
Ukraine’s leader also said in a speech late Monday that it was not the right time to hold wartime elections, urging Ukrainians to strengthen the country and engage in a dangerous internal conflict that could jeopardize the war effort. I begged him not to.
“Now is the time for everyone to think about protecting our country. We need to work together and avoid being distracted or divided by conflict or other priorities.” “Without victory, there is no country. Our victory is possible.”
Zelensky’s call came after tensions between the presidential palace and Supreme Commander Valery Zarzhiny surfaced over the weekend. Zarzhini compared the situation on the battlefield with Russia to the stalemate of World War I.
A few days later, President Zelenskiy dismissed the idea that the war would reach a stalemate, but Zelenskiy’s foreign affairs adviser said that President Zarouzhny’s statements about the war to The Economist were “very strange” and that it could end up in Russian hands. He said there is.
The idea of a battlefield stalemate is highly sensitive in Kiev, which has repeatedly said it opposes any negotiations with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who says it must first withdraw troops from Kiev territory. .
Another apparent breakdown in communication led Zelenskiy to replace the head of special operations forces on Friday. Zelenskiy said he first learned of his dismissal from media reports and said his boss Zarouzhni was also kept in the dark.
Signs of tension emerge as pressure mounts on the front lines in Kiev and beyond.
Five months into Kiev’s counteroffensive, there have been no major breakthroughs in the heavily fortified occupied south and east. Questions also swirl about the sustainability of Western military aid, and Kiev fears it is heading into a second winter of continued Russian airstrikes against its power grid.
election questions
Some Ukrainian sociologists say polls show that the majority of citizens do not trust the government or parliament, indicating a dark atmosphere is creeping into Ukrainian society.
Zelenskiy’s own ratings, while still very high, have also declined since he led Ukraine in the first year of the Russian invasion.
President Zelenskiy said in a speech Monday night that victory will require all the state’s resources and the country’s utmost attention, and that budgetary resources should be poured into defense rather than repairing the streets.
He also told Ukrainians that it was “not the right time” to hold a presidential election and feared he might seek a way to hold a vote in March despite Kiev being banned under martial law. It appears that weeks of speculation have come to an end.
President Zelenskiy said, “Everyone understands that in this time of war, when there are many challenges, it is completely irresponsible to broach the subject of elections to society in a casual and playful manner.”
If it weren’t for martial law, which was imposed when Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 and changes every three months, the election would have been scheduled for March, the same month President Putin ran for re-election in Russia. and is expected to extend his rule.
In Ukraine, there was widespread debate in Ukraine after U.S. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said elections should be held despite the war, but Western observers privately said the elections should be held in a bid for unity. He said it could be easily exploited by Russia.
“I believe that now is not the right time for an election,” Zelenskiy said.
(Additional reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Alison Williams)
