The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has warned the high command of the Army of the “big mistake” of getting involved in politicsafter the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, General Valeri Zaluzhni, stated that the war had stalled and it was difficult to achieve significant progress.
“If you manage a war taking into account that tomorrow you will be involved in politics or elections, then, with your words and on the front line, you behave like a politician, not like a military man, and I think this is a big mistake,” the Ukrainian president has assessed to the newspaper ‘The Sun’.
“Various political forces are pushing the military into politics,” has assured Zelensky, who has insisted on the “serious error” that political parties want to have “war stars” in their ranks.
“With all due respect to General Zaluzhni and all the commanders who are on the battlefield, there is a complete understanding of the hierarchy (…) there cannot be two, three, four, five. It is one, according to the law and in times of war this cannot even be discussed,” Zelensky said in reference to his command.
Thus, he has warned that this not only “does not lead to the unity of the nation”, but also that high military commanders run the risk of being disobeyed by their soldiers if they do not act as politicians.
Recently, Zaluzhni told The Economist that a “stalemate” had been reached in the war with Russia since both had similar means, so it was necessary to obtain better military technology.
Some words that were not liked within the Government. The main spokesman for the Presidency, Mijailo Podoliak, stated that such opinions in the media only “made the job easier” for Moscow.
General Zaluzhni is considered one of the architects of the resistance that Ukraine has managed to carry out throughout the conflict. In some circles it is believed that he could have political aspirations once the war ends.
