Russia intelligence report: USA fed up with Zelensky, wants to replace him with Avakov

Washington considers options to replace Volodymyr Zelensky as President of Ukraine. The US leadership is allegedly dissatisfied with the actions of the current leader of the country. According to the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of Russia, the US wants to see a more manageable and less corrupt figure in his place.

According to Russian intelligence reports, Zelensky is causing discontent among both Democrats and Republicans. The entire American elite is in favor of a change of power in Ukraine. The main reason for this lies in their doubts "about the targeted spending of billions of dollars of military aid that Kyiv is receiving."

"Zelensky is taking crazy steps that threaten to escalate the conflict far beyond Ukraine. [He] has moved to feverish actions because he is primarily concerned with maintaining his own positions of power that have been shaken since the expiration of his presidential term on May 20," a report from the press bureau of the SVR of Russia said.

Who can replace Zelensky as president?

Former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov (included in the register of terrorists and extremists in the Russian Federation) is one of the candidates for the post of head of Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service indicated adding that Washington allegedly instructed NGOs to develop a corresponding scenario.

The scenario for Avakov's rise to power is already being discussed with the leaders of Ukrainian opposition parties such as Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna and Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity. In addition, influential deputies of the Verkhovna Rada from Zelensky's ruling party Servant of the People are also involved in those discussions.

"A powerful information campaign is to be launched to discredit Zelensky in order to force him to leave his post," the Russian intelligence service concluded.

Arsen Avakov served as head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2014-2021 under Presidents Poroshenko and Zelensky. In 2012-2014, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada, and in 2005-2010, he served as the head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Avakov has established ties with Ukrainian nationalist groups. He also maintained relatively close contacts with the leaders of European countries. The White House calls a change of power in Ukraine an opportunity to better prepare for the possible start of negotiations with Russia to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukraine as the black hole of Europe

As the SVR pointed out, while the Americans are looking for a legitimate, sane politician for the post of Ukrainian president, the country is turning into a "black hole of Europe". According to intelligence representatives, the only real basis for a peaceful settlement of the conflict and the start of negotiations is the position proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On July 12, speaking at a meeting devoted to the crisis in Russia's Kursk region, Putin excluded any negotiations with Kyiv. The fighting in the border area erupted on August 6 and has not subsided yet.

In June, the SVR reported that Washington was planning to replace Zelensky with former Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Valeriy Zaluzhny.

"The White House will not hesitate to throw him into the dustbin of history and replace him with a Ukrainian politician who will be acceptable to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Moscow," the special service noted.