Valery Zaluzhny did not succeed as a replacement for Volodymyr Zelensky. Zaluzhny put forward an ultimatum to the West: either you enter the war, or "we will all die.”
Former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and now Ukraine's Ambassador to London, Valery Zaluzhny, spoke at the Land Warfare Conference of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London.
The text of the speech was published on his Telegram channel.
During his speech, Zaluzhny quoted ancient Romans, Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee, which undoubtedly pleased the British, as well as retired American General Stanley McChrystal.
It appears that Zaluzhny tried hard to be more impressive in his new incarnation.
Zaluzhny the ambassador urged the West to prepare for war with its "eternal enemy” — Russia, "the very existence of which is already a threat.”
His call to pray so that "our grandchildren do not see what we and, unfortunately, our children have seen" was no less pathetic.
According to him, Ukraine is already living in the midst of war, whereas the world is yet to see a full-scale and bloody war "that has led us to a new challenge — physical survival.” It is for the sake of survival, Zaluzhny said, that the Western society "will need to temporarily give up on a number of freedoms.”
"I am convinced that the war for freedom in one country (Ukraine) should become a policy for the survival of democracy in other free countries,” Zaluzhny said.
He reproached his listeners for enjoying their warm beds while Ukraine was at war:
"On the cold night of February 24, 2022, when the whole world was enjoying a peaceful life and basking in warm beds, the Ukrainians reminded themselves whose blood was flowing in their veins and entered into a fierce battle with the eternal enemy.”
According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are looking for "their own special path to victory.” This particular path is the use of UAVs. Zaluzhny concluded that the "witty” Ukrainians "invented a way to defeat stronger armies” by taking advantage of new technologies.
The ambassador insisted on the all-out war with the "dictator” for democracy, "otherwise we will all die.” These were the final words of his speech.
Zaluzhny is no good as a diplomat at all. He creates problems instead of solving them. He may not be aware that the Western society does not want a war with Russia. People of the West do not want to die at war with Russia together with the Ukrainians. Peace is what the Western society is now praying for.
Zaluzhny could only insult his listeners by saying that they could only enjoy themselves while the Ukrainians were dying.
Valery Zaluzhny also presented a program to get the West involved into a direct conflict with Russia, which is not new per se, but the trend of today is not the same. Even former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a peace plan.
Zaluzhny's attempt to become a replacement for Zelensky while maintaining the line of war "to the bitter end” will not be successful. Zaluzhny as a politician is over with.