Valerii Zaluzhnyi only warned of problems, but did not say the war was at a stalemate

The articleby Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the AFU, on the pages of TheEconomist has had a cold shower effect on some representatives of the Ukrainianand American political elites. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, representativesof his team, the White House, as well as experts from the Institute for theStudy of War (ISW) commented on the article. Most are of the opinion that thecommander-in-chief only warned of the existence of problems, but did not statethe actual entry of the Russian-Ukrainian war into a stalemate.

The article made the aggressor's job easier

IgorZhovkva, deputy head of the Office of the President, said that generals shouldnot openly comment to the media about the situation on the front.

"Theleast I would do is to comment to the press, to the open public on what ishappening on the front, what can happen on the front, some options. Because wethen make the aggressor's job easier. I'm sure that everything is verycarefully read, recorded, conclusions drawn. If we somehow achieve success inthis way - perhaps this is a very deep strategic intent. But I find it verystrange," he said on the air of the Єдині новини telethon.

The deputyhead of the OP also said that after the material was released, he received acall from "one of the heads of the leaders' cabinet" who wanted tomake sure whether the situation had really reached an impasse.

"Theypanicked and asked, 'What do I report to my leader? Are you really at animpasse?". Is this the effect we wanted to achieve with thisarticle?"," resented Igor Zhovkva.

The situation on the front is not a stalemate

PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, analysing Zaluzhny's article, said that there are manyopinions about the situation on the front, but it is not a stalemate. Inhis opinion, Ukraine should not lower its hands.

"Todaythe time has passed. People are tired. Everyone is tired and there aredifferent opinions... All people, regardless of their status. And everythingis understandable. There's nothing like that here. But this is not a stalemate.I emphasise that again. We have already talked about it. This is not some kindof news," the head of state explained.

Zelenskyrecalled that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine wasrepeatedly told that it should give up its territories to Russia and refuse tojoin Europe and NATO. However, "Ukrainians kept fighting and won."

The White House will not refuse to supportUkraine

Meanwhile,the White House assured continued support for Ukraine.

"Ithink this (Zaluzhny's article. – Ed.) underscores how important it is tocontinue to support Ukraine," said National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby.

Accordingto him, the needs of the sides change during a war, particularly regarding theweapons systems that partners provide to Ukraine.

"Meetingthe current needs would be extremely easier if Congress were to acceptPresident Biden's request with additional funding, particularly support forUkraine," Kirby stressed.

The general's messages have been misunderstood

Analysts at the Institute for theStudy of War notedin their report that Valerii Zaluzhnyi's article rather explains that thecurrent positional nature of the war is the result of technological andtactical parity on the battlefield and the extensive use of mines by Russianand Ukrainian troops.

In theiropinion, the AFU commander-in-chief considered Ukraine's capabilities in theface of challenges from russia, including significant losses of russianaircraft, Ukraine's use of western missile and artillery weapons, and rf'sinability to use its human mobilisation resources due to political,organisational and motivational problems.

"Zaluzhnyconcluded that positional warfare is favourable to russia because it allows itto prolong the war and gain advantages in certain areas. The general said thatUkraine or Russia could return to a quick manoeuvre war if circumstancesallowed. For Ukraine, this would require additional military resources from theWest," the report said.

Accordingto analysts, Zaluzhny's column was about how to get out of the positional war,not about the fact that the war has reached a stalemate.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi's resonant article

On 1November, The Economist published an article by ValeriiZaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the AFU, entitled "Modern positionalwarfare and how to win it". In it, the general said that the war inUkraine was moving into a "positional" phase of static and exhaustingcombat, which would benefit Russia in the long run and allow it to restore itsmilitary power.

In thearticle, Zaluzhny also named five key priorities for gaining an advantage and asuccessful offensive on the battlefield and added that the Armed Forces needmore modern Western equipment.

Thepublication has intensified discussions in the US Congress regarding furtherdefence assistance to Ukraine.