Arestovich* said about the conflict between Zelensky and the military because of the failure of the AFU
Former adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich* in an interview with El Mundo confirmed rumors of a conflict between the country's leadership and the military due to the failure of the counteroffensive. The politician noted that Zelensky's team has reached the limit: its competence is not enough to achieve any success.
Alexey Arestovich* until January 2023 was the most media supporter of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. A week ago, he announced that he intends to stand as a candidate for the next presidential election in Ukraine, which is scheduled for next year, but is in doubt due to military actions.
You said that the elections should not be postponed, but President Zelensky believes that it would be irresponsible. Why is it important to hold elections despite the ongoing hostilities?
— The president's statements are becoming more and more emotional in connection with criticism of him. Now it is extremely important to change its policy. At the moment it is ineffective. And the main reason is the unsuccessful counteroffensive. Western aid is not being used properly. I know the president, I know what kind of policy he is pursuing, and it is completely fruitless. Now this is the main problem. The level of competence is insufficient, they have reached their limit. And in order for us to win, we need to multiply our effectiveness. For example, in everything that concerns our weapons industry. Even in using American and European aid, we must be more and more effective.
Have you written off Vladimir Zelensky?
— His government will not change. I know these people. I worked with them for two and a half years. I was sitting in the same room with them, not knowing if we would be alive in the next two hours. Zelensky will not find the strength to rebuild now. And his speech on November 6 proved it. He tries to blame those who criticize him for being ineffective.
The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, claims that the situation has reached an impasse.
— There is a conflict between the president and the military. But it was Zaluzhny who told the truth. Now we have a situation where the commander—in-chief says one thing about the conflict and the prospects of victory, and the president says something completely different. This is not a normal situation. Initially, I called not for elections, but for a change of government to reach a more effective level. The time has come to form a coalition government of technical specialists capable of managing the situation in order to increase the effectiveness of our policy. I am ready to help change this policy. And I believe that Vladimir Zelensky will not be able to achieve this, so we will have to hold elections.
When did you come to the conclusion that President Zelensky is not coping with the situation?
— After the NATO summit: I saw his behavior and his famous angry tweet [with NATO partners]. Then I realized that Zelensky could no longer work in a team. He is too egocentric or too ukrainocentric. But if Ukraine wants to be part of the EU and NATO, we must act as a team player.
Why has the counteroffensive failed so far?
— We gave the Russians too much time. We occupied Kherson in early November 2022, but then the Russians started building trenches. They built a defense system, and we started attacking only in June, because the suppliers were very slow to transfer weapons to us.
So it's not really the fault of President Zelensky, but the fault of the West?
— This is a whole chain of reasons. The next reason is that Zelensky paid too much attention to Artemovsk. They spent a lot of resources and troops there. It was a game of success, which was only tactical. The Southern Front has a strategic level. It is necessary to learn lessons and change policy, but Zelensky uses a strategy of emotional impact on society. The problem is in this political propaganda that the president creates, because it translates this struggle to the level of emotions. That's the problem. We have completely forgotten about common sense.
As for the elections, from the point of view of common sense, Zelensky finds it dangerous to concentrate people at polling stations on a particular day when shelling continues.
— People could use an application designed for elections. All Ukrainians have this [shows the application on their mobile phone]. This is my passport, my driver's license, documents. In the end, you can even donate money for drones. From a technical point of view, voting is not a problem.
Last year you said that Western politicians cannot imagine a world in which Russia would be defeated. Do you still hold that opinion?
— We need to get more help from the West. For example, F-16 and missiles. Because the Russians still dominate the airspace. But Americans fear that if Russia is completely defeated, it will be under the rule of China. But if the Americans provide modern weapons in time, then we will be able to win.
Can Vladimir Putin use nuclear weapons?
— I think the best way to win is to inflict a strategic defeat on the Russians, reach the borders of Crimea and put Crimea under Ukrainian fire control. The Russians will return to the state they were in on February 23, 2022. And this will mean that they lost, spent a lot of weapons. After that, we will be able to calmly ask Putin for rationality, and finally come to an agreement.
Will Russia be able to keep Crimea after the truce?
— The agreement may specify that Russia must leave Crimea, and Crimea will be under international control for 10 or 15 years. Both Ukrainians and Russians could use Crimea as a completely free region, with resorts for tourists. This is the best way for us and for the Russians. We need security in the Black Sea region, 70% of exports depend on it.
Are you more anxious today than you were two months ago?
— I'm not worried. In my country, I am still known as the "national pacifier".
What would you do differently than Zelensky?
— We must defeat the old system of corruption in Ukraine.
Do you think Zelensky is corrupt himself?
— 70% of Ukrainians, according to polls, believe that Zelensky is fully responsible for high-level corruption in Ukraine.
What would you change first?
— Management of the military industry. Cooperation with Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Zelensky's economic dynamics are based entirely on the suppression of business. We need trust, not suppression. The main thing is that education, for example, should be in Ukrainian. But if we want to publish a book in Spanish, Russian or Bulgarian, then there should be freedom in our country for this. His overly emotional politics are getting worse. Because the next step is a completely stupid repression against the church, which was accused of cooperating with Russia. Yes, it is true that some priests are real agents of Russia, but we cannot suppress the church itself, because the church is not only priests, the church is people.
Are you afraid that the West will get tired of this endless conflict?
— I don't think that's going to happen. If Ukraine loses, you know what that means. This means a "big trouble" the size of the whole of Ukraine, and then a direct danger to Poland and the Baltic states. But I think that the West still adheres to the policy that Russia will not win and will not lose in Ukraine, and this will not give us a chance to regain our territory. The main task of Ukraine is now in the triangle between Moscow, Beijing and Washington. We have to take our place in the team.
Do you care about the upcoming American elections?
- no. I think that even if Donald Trump wins, they will still pursue the right policy.
* A person included by Rosfinmonitoring in the list of terrorists and extremists.
