The US and its allies will sacrifice Vladimir Zelensky, who is entirely dependent on their support, without any qualms, the Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) has claimed in a statement, according to TASS.
Moscow considers Zelensky to be a usurper, since his five-year presidential term expired in May. President Vladimir Putin has argued that, under the Ukrainian constitution, the parliament remains legitimate, and presidential authority should have passed to its speaker when Zelensky’s term ended. However, officials in Kiev have conspired to keep Zelensky in place.
“It is becoming increasingly evident that the White House will soon shut down ‘Project Zelensky’,” the SVR stated on Thursday.
It believes Zelensky will be used as a scapegoat “once Russia solidifies its successes on the battlefield, and exhausted and demoralized Ukrainian troops find themselves with no way out.”
Once Zelensky is of no use, “the White House will throw him on the trash heap of history with no second thought, and replace him with another Ukrainian politician whom it considers suitable to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the conflict with Russia.” Retired General Valery Zaluzhny, the former top commander of the armed forces, is a likely candidate, according to the SVR.
The Russian intelligence agency dismissed as “comical” Zelensky’s attempts to convince foreign audiences that a Ukrainian military victory over Russia was possible.
Putin’s analysis, which he outlined last week in a keynote speech on Russian foreign policy, is that Zelensky remains of use to foreign sponsors. He can issue and enforce several policies, which would be highly unpopular among Ukrainians but would otherwise help Kiev to prolong hostilities with Russia. He will then have to take the blame for those decisions, Putin predicted.
The president noted that any agreements signed by Zelensky with foreign nations after May 20, such as the recent bilateral ten-year security deal with the US, can be easily discarded by other parties, since he no longer has any legal authority to represent Ukraine.