Russia’s foreign spy agency (SVR) claimed last week that it’s received information alleging that NATO wants to depose Zelensky through new elections, which follows US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg calling on that country to finally hold its long-delayed presidential and parliamentary ones. SVR added that the bloc will launch a large-scale information campaign to discredit Zelensky by exposing his corruption, such as the funds that he and his team supposedly stole through various means.
This isn’t the first time that SVR has claimed to have knowledge of Western plots to replace Zelensky, some of which were cited and analyzed here when assessing the veracity of the one that they reported on last August, yet nothing of the sort has come to pass thus far. That, however, doesn’t mean that their latest claims shouldn’t be taken seriously. Observers should also remember that Putin himself predicted last June that the West will make moves in the first half of 2025 to replace Zelensky.
Kellogg’s previously cited comments and Politico’s subsequent piece about how “Ukraine freaks out as US and Russia push for elections” suggest that there’s some truth to SVR’s latest claim, though it remains to be seen whether Ukraine will hold elections later this year and if Zelensky will even run in that case. Nevertheless, the argument can be made that Trump prefers to get Zelensky out of the way since he was the Biden Administration’s top foreign policy asset, plus those two don’t like each other that much.
Democratically replacing Zelensky, even if the process isn’t free and fair should the US meddle in it to ensure that he either doesn’t run or that he loses if he does, is the most “face-saving” means to that end since the West can then present it as alleged proof that Ukraine is a “real democracy”. Trump’s return to office heralds a new era in International Relations so he might want to replace liberal-globalist leaders like Zelensky with like-minded populist-nationalist ones in order to help him implement his agenda.
Zelensky is one of the most symbolic remnants of the liberal-globalist era that’s finally ending. Him remaining in power could therefore impede the new populist-nationalist era that Trump is pioneering, ergo the need to replace him with someone who’s more aligned with his worldview. While speculation abounds about who that could hypothetically be, the argument can be made that Zelensky’s former advisor Alexey Arestovich would be a prime contender due to the pragmatic policies that he’s espoused.
At any rate, everything should become clearer after Kellogg’s reported trip to Kiev in the middle of this month, which sources claim will follow his attendance at the Munich Security Conference from 14-16 February. Leaks about his discussions with Zelensky and other European leaders will likely follow. This will allow observers to get a better sense of the veracity of SVR’s latest report. If it’s lent even partial credence in an objective sense, then more people might take their next reports even more seriously.
