RT, 7/1/26
Former top Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny has told Vladimir Zelensky he will challenge him in the next presidential election, with current polling suggesting he would win in a run-off, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported on Wednesday [July 1], citing sources. Zelensky’s presidential term expired more than two years ago, and he has since been reluctant to hold a new election despite repeated calls from the US.
Zaluzhny, now ambassador to the UK, was summoned back to Kiev last week – officially to discuss the political turmoil in London, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he would soon step down. The real reason, the outlet said, was Zelensky’s concern that Zaluzhny will run for president.
In a one-on-one meeting, Zelensky told the former commander that the current battlefield situation has created a “window of opportunity” for an election, but warned that it has to be held in a way that will not divide the country.
Zelensky reportedly asked Zaluzhny: “If elections are held in autumn, will you run?” Zaluzhny replied, “Yes, I will.”
Zelensky did not offer his rival any posts, Ukrainskaya Pravda said – though sources in government circles claimed that the Ukrainian leader was ready to discuss almost any post, including prime minister. Zaluzhny reportedly said that while he has never sought a political career, he could not betray the trust of the Ukrainian people who are counting on him.
Several top Zelensky allies later tried to sway Zaluzhny, without success. As the talks broke down, one negotiator reportedly told Zaluzhny: “Bro, think it over again.”
Zaluzhny was dismissed as army commander-in-chief in February 2024 and was sent off to London to serve as ambassador – a move widely seen as an attempt by Zelensky to sideline a potential rival. Zaluzhny has since consistently topped Zelensky in trust ratings. Though he insists that he has no political ambitions, media reports suggest that he is gearing up for a presidential run.
A closed poll cited by Ukrainskaya Pravda puts Zelensky first with 33% support, ahead of Zaluzhny with 22% and top Zelensky aide Kirill Budanov with 14%. In a run-off, however, Zaluzhny would defeat Zelensky 37% to 32%, and narrowly defeat Budanov 34% to 32%.
Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024. He has refused to call a new election, citing martial law, which was imposed after the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022. Moscow has since declared him illegitimate and argues that his dubious legal status as leader is an obstacle to signing a peace agreement.
Zelensky has been pressured to hold a new election by US President Donald Trump, who once called him a “dictator without elections.” Zelensky responded by saying he is ready to hold an election, but demanded that Ukraine’s supporters ensure its security.
Yes, yes, brilliant! Replace a comedian who fancies himself a military strategist, in a moment in history which is defined by military combat, with an Army General who fancies himself a diplomat. I can’t think what could go wrong. An Army General stamped straight out of the Nazi-admiring Bandera Ukrainian-nationalist mold, no less.
Zaluzhny was fully on-board with Ukraine’s most-disastrous military ventures, until he discovered he was drawing more attention from the western money-men by criticizing Zelensky. When you’re in a war and you’ve got pretty much nothing except a sharp tongue for the way the current (failing) leader is running things, I find it hard to view that as a recipe for success. It was a western decision to urge Ukraine onward to a land war in which it had no air force (after the first few days), something no western state would ever attempt. That’s less a factor now that the war is all-drones-all-the-time, but Ukraine would never have recovered from the mauling it took during that critical imbalance in any case. Fedorov achieved popularity, in part, by framing a plan whereby some of the Ukrainian soldiers who have been fighting since Day One would be demobbed out. Russia regularly rotates its deployed forces so the exhausted Ukrainians are always facing fresh and rested troops. Fedorov also envisioned a Ukrainian Army which was as much as 50% foreign troops, which is hiring mercenaries which is specifically against international law. Always exceptions for Ukraine, of course, which is only ‘defending itself’.
I imagine the west would be in favour of a Zaluzhny presidency; if for no other reason, because Zelensky has pretty much run out his string and has lost whatever mojo he might once have had. But then, the west is not factoring in an end-state for Ukraine, because it was selected to burn itself out, and Zaluzhny would be as good a guy as any to facilitate that by inspiring Ukrainians that victory is still possible.