A Summer Breakup
According to an assessment by the Russian foreign intelligence service, the United States is currently looking for ways to get rid of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mary ManleyThe SVR said that the US administration is planning to launch a “powerful information campaign” to discredit Zelensky as a way to force him off his post. The US is hoping to replace Volodymyr Zelensky with a manageable and less corrupt figure, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday. The US is considering former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov as a possible candidate to replace Zelensky, the SVR said.”In the current situation, Washington is working on options to replace the Ukrainian leader with a ‘more manageable and less corrupt figure, who would suit most Western allies,” the SVR said.”The former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov is currently being considered as a suitable candidate. The US consider Avakov’s ‘strengths’ to be his close ties with Ukrainian nationalist formations and his continuing contacts with the leaders of European countries,” the SVR added.
WorldUS Working to Replace Zelensky – Russia’s Foreign Intelligence13 August, 08:02 GMTUS media reported in June that US President Joe Biden and Zelensky had spoken after signing a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy. Biden vowed lasting support for the country and said the US would “stand by Ukraine”. G7 leaders agreed to give Ukraine stolen money from frozen Russian assets.The report added that the deal will lay out a long-term security relationship with Kiev, but that it could be unraveled by future US administrations. Zelensky voiced his hope that the pact will serve as a bridge to Ukraine’s desperate attempts to join NATO.
"The US administration has already instructed affiliated NGOs to work out the scenario of Avakov's coming to power in Ukraine. Now this issue is being discussed with the leaders of the leading Ukrainian opposition parties… as well as with a number of influential deputies of the Verkhovna Rada from the ruling Servant of the People party," the statement said.
Zelensky chose not to run in presidential elections for Ukraine which Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned, saying it contradicts the constitution of Ukraine, Sputnik reported in June.
“The Ukrainian constitution does not say anything about the possibility of prolonging the term of the president under martial law; it only says that elections are not held,” Sputnik reported citing Putin.
“The current leadership of Ukraine has decided not to run in the elections, so there are questions. There is Article 103 of the Constitution of Ukraine, it says that the president is elected only for five years,” Putin said at a meeting with the representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
