Former commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi willing to run for president: details of meeting with Zelenskyy
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces and current Ambassador to the UK, was summoned to Kyiv ahead of the UK prime minister's resignation, where discussions were held on whether he would take part in presidential elections if they were held in the autumn.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda article
Quote: "A formal pretext for summoning Ukraine's ambassador to London to Kyiv presented itself – His Majesty's Prime Minister Keir Starmer was preparing to resign.
The UK is a strategic partner of Ukraine, so the first part of the face-to-face meeting at the beginning of last week between President Zelenskyy and Ambassador Zaluzhnyi was spent discussing the situation in London and its possible implications for Ukrainian-British relations."
Details: Sources close to both participants told Ukrainska Pravda that the discussion had then turned to the topic of presidential elections.
"Zelenskyy said that developments on the line of contact have recently been favourable, society remains fairly united and therefore a window of opportunity has opened for the holding of elections. However, the main task is to ensure they are conducted in such a way that the country does not face a new internal split, and therefore, the president continued, risks arising from a Zelenskyy-Zaluzhnyi confrontation must be avoided," the article states.
According to UP's sources, the president eventually asked the former commander-in-chief directly: "If elections are held in the autumn, will you stand?"
The same sources said he had received a clear answer: "Yes. I will."
"After this, the conversation continued for some time, but Zelenskyy did not offer Zaluzhnyi any options for a future career path – it would have made no sense. Although, according to UP's sources in the government, the President's Office was willing to discuss not only diplomatic posts but virtually any state positions, including even the post of prime minister," the authors of the article say.
Zaluzhnyi, in turn, tried to explain his position, saying he has never sought a political career, but many people are placing their hopes in him and he would not be able to explain why he should disregard that trust. The president and the general shook hands before leaving the meeting.
During Zaluzhnyi's stay in Kyiv, he also met with Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, and Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People party.
"They reiterated essentially the same arguments: a possible societal split, the danger of an overly confrontational campaign and risks to the state. Zaluzhnyi's answer did not change. After this, even the most experienced negotiators in the President's Office ran out of arguments. But as he was leaving, they did ask Zaluzhnyi: 'Come on, just think it over one more time'," the article says.
The article notes that after Zaluzhnyi departed from Kyiv, it became clear that the summer attempt by the president's office to restart the political process and organise elections in the autumn has encountered a serious obstacle.
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