Is Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his way out? Seymour Hersh, in a July 18 article, reports that he has been told by “knowledgeable officials in Washington” that Zelenskyy is on a short list for exile, if President Donald Trump decides to make the call. Favored to replace Zelenskyy is General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and currently Ukraine’s Ambassador to London.
Hersh writes further that if Zelenskyy refuses to leave his office, as is most likely, an involved U.S. official told him: “He’s going to go by force. The ball is in his court.” There are many in Washington and in Ukraine who believe that the escalating air war with Russia must end soon, while there’s still a chance to make a settlement with its President Vladimir Putin.
There are indications that Zelenskyy knows what is coming. He has just shifted or fired three officials: the minister of defense, the prime minister, and the ambassador to the United States. As the U.S. official told Hersh, Zelenskyy “is beginning to read the danger signs.”
