Apparent divisions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his military command are becoming increasingly public, after a bitter back-and-forth over the state of play in the war with Russia. <\/p>\n
Igor Zhovka, the deputy head of Zelensky\u2019s office, on Saturday condemned an assessment by Ukraine\u2019s military chief that the war with Russia is at a \u201cstalemate,\u201d deepening a feud in Kyiv which has heightened nerves about Western support for the conflict. <\/p>\n
He was responding to an interview with military chief Valery Zaluzhny, who told The Economist on Wednesday that \u201cwe have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate\u201d and \u201cthere will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough\u201d in the war. <\/p>\n
Zhovka told Ukrainian television that Zaluzhny\u2019s interview will have been \u201ccarefully read, noted down and conclusions drawn\u201d by the Russians. He said he had received calls from counterparts in partner countries \u201cin a panic\u201d asking if the war really is at a stalemate, as described by Zaluzhny. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs this the effect we wanted to achieve with this article?\u201d Zhovka said. <\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps this is a very deep strategic plan, and we will achieve some success in this way. But to be honest, I am very surprised,\u201d Zhovka added. <\/p>\n
The tensions come at a pivotal moment in the war, with Kyiv\u2019s slow-moving counter-offensive and the outbreak of violence in the Middle East sparking fears that Western financial and military aid could begin to flag. <\/p>\n
Zelensky\u00a0also disagreed with Zaluzhnyi\u2019s assessment during a press conference with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday, but admitted that people are \u201ctired\u201d after 18 months of war in the country. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are tired. Everyone is tired. There are different opinions [\u2026] Everyone is human, regardless of status\u2026 But this is not a stalemate. I emphasize this once again. We have already talked about this. This is not some kind of news,\u201d Zelensky said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to get together and resolve the issues, work more with our partners on air defense, unblock the skies, and enable our guys to take offensive actions. This is what we need to think about. Only about this. Not about where we will be tomorrow. But now,\u201d\u00a0Zelensky\u00a0said. <\/p>\n
Zaluzhny also laid out in his interview his vision for what Ukraine needs to do and the kind of support needed from partners to break the deadlock. <\/p>\n
But his overall characterization of the conflict raised eyebrows in Ukraine and made international headlines. It came as a separate interview, given by Zelensky to TIME, painted the Ukrainian president as an increasingly isolated figure. <\/p>\n
\u201cNobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody,\u201d Zelensky told TIME, adding that instilling those beliefs in Ukraine\u2019s allies \u201ctakes all your power, your energy.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cExhaustion with the war rolls along like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe,\u201d Zelensky was quoted as saying. <\/p>\n
He admitted that the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has diverted attention from Ukraine\u2019s fight against Russia, complicating efforts to maintain international enthusiasm for his country\u2019s fight. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course we lose out from the events in the Middle East. People are dying, and the world\u2019s help is needed there to save lives,\u201d Zelensky said. <\/p>\n
He added to those comments during von der Leyen\u2019s Saturday trip to Kyiv. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is obvious the war in the Middle East, this conflict takes away the focus. I think it is one of the goals of the Russian Federation\u2026 It\u2019s a fact. We see the outcomes,\u201d\u00a0Zelensky\u00a0said. <\/p>\n
The Ukrainian leader had previously expressed solidarity with Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks, recommending that world leaders \u201cgo to Israel\u201d and offer support to the \u201cpeople who have been under terrorist attacks.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ukraine is meanwhile continuing with a difficult counter-offensive against Russian forces in the south and east. <\/p>\n
Kyiv has been able to land more successful blows through the air, and said its air force carried out\u00a0successful\u00a0airstrikes on a shipyard\u00a0in the eastern port city of Kerch in the Russian occupied Crimean peninsula on Saturday. <\/p>\n
The\u00a0Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, was temporarily shut down for traffic for two hours on Saturday. Russian authorities did not provide a reason for the road closure\u00a0on the\u00a0vital artery that connects mainland Russia to the occupied peninsula. <\/p>\n\n
Apparent divisions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his military command are becoming increasingly public, after a bitter back-and-forth over the state of play in the war with Russia. Igor Zhovka, the deputy head of Zelensky\u2019s office, on Saturday condemned an assessment by Ukraine\u2019s military chief that the war with Russia is at a \u201cstalemate,\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}