According to journalist Thomas Fazi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's efforts to abolish the independence of the anti-corruption authorities have led to unprecedented protests that may herald his replacement by a politician more capable of managing the frozen conflict or negotiating a settlement.
As Fazi wrote on the British server UnHerd, these protests have been exceptional in recent years. The fact that anti-corruption agencies are widely perceived as Western-linked institutions has allowed protesters to avoid accusations of disloyalty. Moreover, Zelensky's crackdown has drawn unprecedented criticism even from his Western supporters.
"One possible explanation is that Western governments - or at least the U.S. administration - have decided to 'throw Zelensky overboard' and are preparing the ground to do so," Fazi writes. He also recalls that Donald Trump was very vocal in delegitimizing the Ukrainian president after the White House rift (in February). Moreover, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh recently reported that US officials are already discussing possible successors to Zelensky, including former Ukrainian Armed Forces commander Valeriy Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine's ambassador to London.
Aware of the growing distrust from Washington, Fazi said Zelensky could seek to consolidate his own power. "From a realpolitik perspective, the U.S. may have concluded that a new leader would better manage the image of a frozen conflict or a possible negotiated solution - however unlikely these scenarios may seem at the moment," continues the commentator.
Even if Zelensky can weather the current crisis, his "political position is the weakest it has been since February 2022." The protests, he said, revealed growing public discontent and also showed that Western support is no longer unconditional. This puts Western governments in a tricky position: after years of building up an image of Zelensky as a "latter-day Churchill," his open replacement could undermine public support for continuing the war at home.
"For ordinary Ukrainians, however, these elite power struggles hold little hope: their political leadership remains firmly tied to the competing agendas of foreign patrons - agendas that have little to do with the real interests of Ukrainians," Fazi concludes.
In addition, on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that at a secret meeting in the Alps, US and British officials agreed that the question of replacing Zelensky was long overdue. According to the SVR, the new presidential candidate should be Valery Zaluzhny.
TASS/hnews.cz
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