Zelenskyy has no plans to fire Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he has a working relationship with Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and plans to go on working with him.

Source: Zelenskyy, at his end-of-year press conference on 19 December, when asked whether there is any conflict between himself and Zaluzhnyi and whether he plans to dismiss him.

Quote: "I have a working relationship with Zaluzhnyi. He has to be responsible for the results on the battlefield as the Commander-in-Chief, together with the General Staff. There are many issues there. And also [Oleksandr Tarnavskyi] the commander (of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Command), who was in charge of the operational command... The offensive is a complex issue: some things were there, some things were not, some things are missing... We need solid steps and results... every day at every position.

I plan to work [with them - ed.]; I await their decisions (on mobilisation, assistance at the front, and very specific things on the battlefield). The strategy is clear; I want to see the details. I think that’s fair."

Background: 

• In an interview with The Economist, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, noted that the situation on the battlefield had reached a stalemate, with neither side able to advance as they are equally technologically equipped, leading the war to a stage of positional fighting.
• For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he did not consider the situation at the front line to be a stalemate.
• On 21 November, in an interview with The Sun, Zelenskyy stated that soldiers planning to enter politics should not "deal with war".
• On 29 November, The Economist reported that, alongside the grim reality of trench warfare, the "political battleground" in Kyiv was becoming increasingly tense as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saw a competitor in the Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and political infighting was harming Ukraine.

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