The disagreement between President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi has reached its maximum because of the general's demand to mobilize hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Western media argue. Meanwhile, Zaluzhnyi himself argues in his editorial for the need to develop a new high-tech military strategy.
At the summit of the European Council, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has supported the allocation of 50 billion euros to Ukraine, realizing that the leaders of the bloc are no longer ready to tolerate his blackmail. And members of the U.S. Senate are finalizing preparations to vote on the agreement, which will unlock the security assistance package for Ukraine, although they are not sure of its success.
offers a digest of Western mass media at the end of the January 29 – February 2, 2024, business week.
Will Zelenskyi replace Zaluzhnyi? More on the conflict
The Washington Post reports, citing an anonymous senior Ukrainian official, that President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told his top commander, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Monday, January 29, that he would soon be dismissed.
The president believed that a leadership change might help provide a refresh as the public grows increasingly exhausted by the war, and aid from international partners has slowed. But a swift, negative reaction in the military ranks, misgivings among some officials in Kyiv, and uncertainty in the West suggest Zelenskyi’s removal of the popular general could backfire — allowing Moscow to seize on the instability.
"Only Russia wins in this situation. This was very poorly communicated. People needed to be prepared because Zaluzhnyi is very respected — not only among soldiers but civilians, too," the Post’s sources said.
According to them, Zaluzhnyi explained Zelenskyi that his replacement won’t improve Ukraine’s position on the battlefield because the invaders still retain their advantage in numbers and equipment.
As the rumors of Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal spread, President Zelenskyi never addressed this in his speeches and gave no explanations. Photo: Presidential Office
Perhaps the most serious disagreement in the rift between Zelenskyi and Zaluzhnyi was the general’s request to mobilize more soldiers, the sources said. As Russia plans to mobilize 400,000 more people into its armed forces, Zaluzhnyi demands that Ukraine must match this number. Zelenskyi has pushed back, saying that Ukraine lacks the money to sustain the army of such strength and that aggressive conscription would also be politically unpopular.
The Washington Post names Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the current ground forces commander, and Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence chief, as the most likely successors to the Commander-in-Chief.
Syrskyi, on the other hand, has developed rapport with Western commanders, such as General Christopher Cavoli, head of the U.S. European Command. Within the ranks of the Ukrainian military, however, Syrskyi is widely disliked. Some soldiers say his orders led to unnecessary losses and that he removed popular commanders in favor of those more loyal to him.
Meanwhile, Budanov has little experience as an army commander. Some military officials have suggested that even if Budanov is tapped to replace Zaluzhnyi, it would be Syrskyi who would actually be commanding from behind the scenes.
What Ukraine needs to win: Zaluzhnyi’s article
Valerii Zaluzhnyi made no political statements in response; instead, he laid out his vision of the current war and the ways to win it in his editorial for CNN
On Thursday, February 1, CNN published an editorial by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in which the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reflects on the changes in the Ukrainian strategy needed to defeat Russia.
According to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s position in the war is shaped by the following factors:
- the development of unmanned weapons systems;
- a reduction in military support from key allies due to the exhaustion of Western stocks of arms and a global shortage of propellant charges;
- Russia provoking regional conflicts to distract international attention;
- the weakness of the international sanctions’ regime;
- the significant advantage enjoyed by the enemy in mobilizing human resources compared with the inability of state institutions in Ukraine to improve the manpower levels of our armed forces without the use of unpopular measures;
- the imperfections of the Ukrainian regulatory framework, as well as the partial monopolization of the defense industry, which have led to production bottlenecks.
Zaluzhnyi believes that Ukraine can gain an advantage over the enemy with the help of unmanned vehicles, means of radio-electronic warfare, and cyber assets used to conduct combined operations under a single concept. Such operations can focus on inflicting military and economic losses on Russia, as well as psychological harm.
To that end, Ukraine needs to create a completely new system of technological rearmament. Zaluzhnyi argues that such a system could be created in five months.
Therefore, the Commander-in-Chief sums up, the following should be the main focuses for 2024:
- Creating a system to provide our armed forces with high-tech assets.
- Introducing a new philosophy of training and warfare which takes account of restrictions in assets and how they can be deployed.
- And mastering new combat capabilities as soon as possible.
Orbán overplayed his hand: EU leaders put the Hungarian blackmailer in his place
A robust and united position among EU member states convinced Viktor Orbán to end his "blackmail" and support a €50 billion funding package for Ukraine, The Guardian reports, citing European prime ministers.
The Hungarian prime minister understood that he was completely isolated during a meeting with a group of the most influential European leaders: the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as well as the European Commission and Council presidents, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.
Orbán is the only leader in the EU to maintain ties with Putin, with whom he met last year in Beijing during the latest Belt and Road event. Photo: Getty Images
The meeting began on Thursday, February 1, just before 9:30 a.m., and by 11:30 a.m., a deal was done. Two new paragraphs were added to an official communique on the agreement. One new paragraph calls for the European Council to invite the European Commission to review the budgetary framework in two years’ time but with no option for a veto. Another paragraph restates a mechanism which allows the EU to freeze funds to any member state that does not comply with the rule of law.
"Orbán fatigue": the Hungarian prime minister has hit the wall
According to The Guardian, the irritation of EU leaders with the behavior of Orbán, who has exerted excessive influence on the bloc's politics for years, has reached a critical point.
One of the strongest arguments for Orbán was a memo published in the Financial Times in which European officials warned of ending support for the Hungarian economy in the event of further blackmail. Although this document was not an official negotiating position, it was taken seriously in Budapest.
Senate will vote on aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, says Chuck Schumer
Senate, Capitol Hill, Washington
Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said on Thursday that he would set up a test vote on a measure pairing an immigration crackdown with tens of billions of dollars in military assistance to Ukraine and Israel by February 7, The New York Times reports.
According to Schumer, a small group of Republican and Democratic senators is finalizing a plan for immigration reform and will make it public by the end of the week so that the senators will have enough time to examine it before the vote. Republicans had demanded that clamping down on migration across the U.S. border with Mexico be paired with any further aid to Kyiv for its war against Russian aggression.
But right-wing Republicans, egged on by former President Donald J. Trump, have denounced it as too weak, prompting Speaker Mike Johnson to call it dead on arrival in the House and indicating that it may have no path through Congress.
Biden last week urged Congress to pass the deal, promising to use it to "shut down the border." Johnson, however, tore into the president for those words, arguing that he already had the power to close the border without any new legislation.
Senate Republican leaders have been trying to persuade skeptics not to listen to the critics until they see the text of the deal for themselves. But the longer it takes to finalize a deal, the more they are concerned about losing ground. On Thursday, when asked whether his colleagues would be able to overcome Trump’s opposition and embrace the deal, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, said: "I can’t answer that yet."
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