The former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Valeri Zalouzhny, replaced at the beginning of February, has been appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom, a key ally of Kiev in its war against Russia, announced Thursday March 7, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The President approved the candidacy of Valery Zaluzhny for the post of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom”declared the ministry in a press release, a month after this major change at the head of the Ukrainian forces.
“Our alliance with the United Kingdom can only strengthen”, underlined in his daily message President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking about this decision. “ Mr. Zaloujni told me that he wanted to take the diplomatic route”he assured.
Failure of kyiv’s counter-offensive in 2023
At the end of February, the Ukrainian head of state replaced Valeri Zalouzhny with Oleksandr Syrsky, a lesser-known general. This measure, the subject of persistent rumors, followed the failure of kyiv’s counter-offensive in 2023 and against a backdrop of tensions between Mr. Zelensky and General Zalouzhny, a very popular military leader.
Valeri Zalouzhny, aged 50, was appointed commander-in-chief in July 2021, a few months before the Russian invasion began in February 2022. In a press release published after his dismissal, he stressed that his country’s military strategy must “change and adapt” after two years of an intense war, marked in recent months by a lack of ammunition and men in the Ukrainian forces.
In the United Kingdom, Valeri Zalouzhny will have to continue to convince London to support kyiv financially and militarily to face the Russian army, which is more numerous and which has been gaining ground on the front in recent weeks.
On Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed British Defense Minister Grant Shapps to the Ukrainian capital, notably to “strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and long-range capabilities, as well as meet other urgent weapons and ammunition needs”in the words of the Ukrainian president.