PARIS, July 30. /TASS/. If Vladimir Zelensky is replaced with former top military commander Valery Zaluzhny as part of a reported agreement with the US and the UK, it will be the fall of democracy in Ukraine and a confirmation that Kiev is merely a NATO puppet, Florian Philippot, the leader of the French political party Les Patriotes, told TASS.
"If confirmed, it will prove that Ukrainian democracy has been a grotesque farce from the beginning. This country is, unfortunately, just a NATO plaything. Zelensky will be lynched after his period of popularity," the politician said.
Philippot emphasized that he does not agree with such a political maneuver if the idea behind it is to prolong the conflict. "If, on the contrary, this leads to a gradual reduction in Western support for Kiev, so much the better," he concluded.
Earlier, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that the US and the UK had decided at a secret meeting in an Alpine resort to nominate Zaluzhny for Ukrainian president. According to information received by the SVR, the meeting was attended by the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration Andrey Yermak, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov, and Zaluzhny. At the meeting, the participants also decided that now was the time to act in replacing Vladimir Zelensky, the SVR noted.