It will be difficult for Russia to advance a peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian conflict if former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, takes the helm in Ukraine. This was stated by Alexey Chepa, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, to Gazeta.Ru on July 1, commenting on Ukrainian media reports that the former Commander-in-Chief had expressed his desire to run for president during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Zaluzhnyy didn’t just appear out of nowhere. The British intelligence services did a good job of nurturing him, I have no doubt about that. How much can they (Zelenskyy or Zaluzhnyy) be trusted? I don’t trust either one,” the deputy said.
He pointed out that Zaluzhnyy supports the war with Russia just as much as Zelenskyy does, making it difficult to reach an agreement with him on a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, especially since London, which backs Kyiv, advocates fighting to the last Ukrainian.