Ukraine’s former armed forces chief endorses ‘victory plan’ in first speech since his dismissal

LONDON (AP) — Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Thursday expressed his support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” despite the tensions between the two that led to his dismissal.

“Ukraine must clearly follow the plan,” Zaluzhnyi said in his first public appearance since his appointment as ambassador to the U.K.

He told an audience at London’s Chatham House think-tank: “But this list of steps primarily concerns those countries that should ultimately be interested in stopping the war.”

The plan lays out Ukraine’s view on how to strengthen its positions before any potential negotiations with Russia to end the conflict. After briefing U.S. and other Western officials, Zelenskyy presented the key points publicly during a speech to the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday.

The plan includes a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western-supplied longer-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory — steps that have been met with reluctance by Kyiv’s allies so far.

Zaluzhnyi asserted that NATO membership is the only viable security guarantee for his country, fully backing President Zelensky’s call for the alliance to extend an invitation to Kyiv. But the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO has left the alliance in a bind, with some members concerned it could escalate the conflict and risk direct confrontation with Russia.

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“Declaring yet another freeze in the situation with Ukraine will not work,” said Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief. “We want to have guarantees of security for ourselves and our children,” he said.

Zaluzhnyi, who was in charge of armed forces during Ukraine’s failed counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, said a shortfall in Western support during that period meant that Ukraine lost its chance to fend off Russia on its own.

He said that missed opportunity turned the war into a protracted conflict where the way out “seems rather doubtful and almost impossible,” and allowed Russia the chance to form an alliance with North Korea, Iran and China which Ukraine now cannot defeat without the help of Western partners.

“Against Ukraine now stands not only Russia, but also a quite powerful coalition of strong states,” he said. Such an “alliance of authoritarian countries” may pose a security threat to the democratic world and the West “should have made a plan to protect its democratic institutions,” he said.

During the presentation of his plan in Brussels on Thursday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv has intelligence information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against his country, warning that a third nation wading into the hostilities would turn the conflict into a “world war.” Zelenskyy did not go into further details about the claim.

As the war grinds through its third year, the mood in Ukraine is grim as its outmanned troops face difficulty holding back Russian advances, especially in the east. Although Moscow’s gains are incremental, the steady forward movement is making Kyiv feel it needs more large-scale Western help.

The former armed forces chief stressed that Ukraine is battling Russia, which significantly outweighs it in resources, including in manpower.

“The only thing which works in the war is mathematics,” he said.

Zaluzhnyi acknowledged the challenges his country faces with mobilization, emphasizing the need to reform recruitment practices inherited from the times Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. Despite his popularity, he has faced widespread criticism for failing to meet the army’s need for more troops.

Conscription has become a sensitive issue as infantry shortages grow, which became one of the factors that allowed Russia to gain the initiative on the battlefield.

“We had to change it (the system),” he said but adding that Ukraine doesn’t have enough time to do it while the war with Russia lasts.

“The material side does not depend entirely on us, but in working with human resources, everything completely depends on Ukraine,” he said.

Tensions between Zaluzhnyi and President Zelenskyy escalated following Ukraine’s 2023 counter-offensive, which failed to achieve significant territorial gains. In February, Zelenskyy dismissed Zaluzhnyi as military commander-in-chief in a move to revitalize efforts in the stalled war.

Zaluzhnyi is widely respected among Ukrainian troops and considered a national hero. He is credited with stalling Russia’s full-scale invasion in the early days of the war and expertly pushing back Moscow’s troops.

——— Arhirova contributed from Kyiv