White House and Kremlin speak out about Ukraine's change of military commander

Hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided to change the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces, White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby made his first comments.

Ukrainska Pravda quoted Mr. Kirby as saying at a brief press conference that President Zelensky has the right to decide who will lead the army and the US side will work with whoever Mr. Zelensky gives responsibility for the Ukrainian army.

The White House National Security Council coordinator also rejected accusations that the replacement of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces indicated a "destabilizing" situation in Ukraine, but could not confirm whether the issue of personnel in the Ukrainian military had previously been discussed "at a high level" between Kiev and Washington.

Earlier on February 2, the Washington Post quoted two sources familiar with the discussion regarding the change of Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as saying that the Ukrainian government had informed the White House about Mr. Zelensky's decision to fire General Zaluzhnyi.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the replacement of Ukraine's top general would not affect Russia's (special military) campaign.

According to RT, Mr. Peskov said that Russia does not expect any significant impact on the military campaign against Ukraine after Kiev replaced the top commander of its army and that Moscow will continue its campaign until it achieves its goals.

Earlier on the evening of February 8, local time, Mr. Zelensky said he had appointed General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to replace General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

When announcing the above decision, the President of Ukraine called General Syrskyi the most experienced battlefield commander, and recalled the achievements made under the leadership of General Syrskyi, including the defensive operation in Kiev (in the spring of 2022) and the counteroffensive operation to liberate Kharkiv (in September 2023).

The head of state of Ukraine also confirmed that he expects to see changes in the Ukrainian armed forces soon, including an effective rotation system that must be established in the army, logistical issues that must be resolved, and especially the need for military generals to know well the fronts they are responsible for.

In his first speech since his appointment, General Syrskyi declared that the country's military needed to change its "methods" to win the war with Russia.

On social networks, General Syrskyi wrote: “Only constant changes and improvements in the means and methods of warfare will allow us to succeed on this path.”

According to General Syrskyi, the Ukrainian army needs to “draw up clear and detailed plans”, “taking into account the needs of the front line for the latest weapons supplied by international partners”.

As for General Zaluzhnyi, after the decision of the President of Ukraine on February 8, he wrote on Telegram that "the tasks of the Ukrainian army in 2022 are very different from the tasks in 2024. Therefore, it is necessary to change and adapt to the new reality".

The former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces added that he had "important and serious talks" with President Zelensky and "we decided that we need to change our approach and strategy".