White House reacts to Kyiv dismissing Zaluzhnyi as Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief
Pravda Ukraine
John Kirby, White House National Security Council Coordinator, has commented on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to change the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Kirby’s briefing on 8 February
Details: The White House representative emphasised that Zelenskyy is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of his Armed Forces, and “he gets to decide who his leadership is going to be in the military.”
Quote: “That’s what civilian control is all about. We know that. And we’ll work with whoever he has in charge of his military. We’ll continue to work with our Ukrainian counterparts,” Kirby added.
He also rejected claims that the replacement of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces indicates the “instability” of the situation in Ukraine, but could not confirm that this personnel issue was previously discussed “at high levels” between Kyiv and Washington.
Earlier, The Washington Post, with reference to two sources, reported that the Ukrainian government had informed the White House about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to dismiss Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For several weeks in Ukraine, there were rumours that the president was going to dismiss Valerii Zaluzhnyi from the position of the Commander-in-Chief.
On 8 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Valerii Zaluzhnyi simultaneously reported a joint meeting and said they had discussed changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces. Later that day, Zelenskyy appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Zaluzhnyi.
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