Commander of the Ground Forces, Syrsky, following the chief of the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Budanov, has declined to replace Zaluzhnyy as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Alexander Syrsky, following the chief of the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, has declined to replace Valeriy Zaluzhnyy as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

British newspaper The Times reports this, citing sources.

According to the newspaper, due to the refusal of the two main candidates and pressure from Western allies, Zelensky canceled the decision to dismiss Zaluzhnyy.

The newspaper also confirms existing information that Zelensky met with Zaluzhnyy and asked him to resign. However, he refused, and the president stated that he would sign the dismissal order.

The publication writes that after this, Zaluzhnyy returned to his office and informed his deputies that he was “packing up.”

However, concern about the situation was expressed by the senior command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as international partners, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Zelensky must understand that the military trust Zaluzhnyy, and if the president wants the military to trust him, he needs to learn to trust Zaluzhnyy,” the newspaper quotes a “trusted source” of the chief of staff.