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‘Serious people’ in West discussing options for replacing Zelensky — Russian intel chief

In response to a question about who would be most likely to replace Zelensky, Sergey Naryshkin said: "I would rather not make such assessments"

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. "Serious people" in high places in the West are now engaged in discussions on the options for replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky with someone else, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin, who also chairs the Russian Historical Society, told reporters.

"These discussions are taking place in serious institutions and involve serious people, which means that there is something behind them," he said, when asked about the credibility of Western discussions concerning the potential removal of Zelensky and his replacement with another figure.

In response to a question about who would be most likely to replace Zelensky, Naryshkin said: "I would rather not make such assessments."

According to Naryshkin’s statement released by the SVR on Monday, the intelligence agency is continuing to receive reliable reports that senior officials from leading Western countries are increasingly discussing the need to replace the incumbent Ukrainian president with someone else. According to the SVR’s data, Western governments are considering Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, former Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Alexey Arestovich (designated in Russia as a terrorist and extremist), Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Ukrainian Presidential Office Head Andrey Yermak as potential candidates to take the place of Zelensky.

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