MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky’s Western patrons will toss him aside without a second thought as soon as Russia consolidates its successes on the battlefield and Ukrainian troops find themselves up against a wall, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a press release.
"Washington and its satellites are happy with the situation since May 20, 2024, as the legitimacy of [Ukrainian President] Vladimir Zelensky now fully relies on Western support," the SVR said. "His Western patrons will easily sacrifice him when Russia consolidates its successes on the battlefield, and depleted and demoralized Ukrainian forces find themselves against the ropes," Russia’s foreign intelligence service added.
"Having exhausted Zelensky’s ‘usefulness’ and realizing the futility of hoping for ‘Russia’s strategic defeat’, the White House will not pause to cast him off to the ash heap of history, replacing him with a Ukrainian politician who they believe can lead talks with Moscow on a peaceful settlement of the conflict," the SVR noted. "Washington considers ex-Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny to be the best fit here," it added.
The SVR dismissed Zelensky’s latest claims about "bringing Russia to its knees," calling them laughable. "It is becoming increasingly obvious that the White House may shutter the `Zelensky project’ before long," the SVR said.
The issue of the legitimacy of the current authorities in the absence of parliamentary and presidential elections, which cannot be held amid martial law, is the focus of heated debates in Ukraine. Thus, Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) member Alexander Dubinsky insists that Zelensky’s term as president expired on May 21 and there is no legal way to extend it. The country’s former ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadim Pristaiko, has admitted that Kiev’s Western partners are concerned over the expiration of Zelensky’s term as president.