A.Kubilius said in an interview with the publication “Evropejska pravda” that he is most interested in who will be responsible for defense in Ukraine and what will happen to M.Fedorov.
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“We have worked very closely and continue to cooperate with Mychaila Fedorov – both before and especially after he began leading the Ministry of Defense. During this period, we have managed to achieve a lot. Including almost daily strikes on Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Omsk, Crimea, etc.,” he said.
A.Kubilius noted that if M.Fedorov is not appointed to a similar position in the government renewal, “it will raise the question of why such a person is being replaced.”
“Perhaps he will take on important duties in another position – it is still too early to talk about this because we do not yet know what the government will look like. It is important to us that the work we started continues. Especially the ‘Ukraine Support Loan’: 60 billion is a very large amount. Together with M.Fedorov, we have made significant progress in implementing this loan and preparing the first, so-called, weapons list,” said the European Commission member.
He also mentioned that he learned about Yulia Svyrydenko’s resignation from the prime minister’s position while traveling from Warsaw to Helm.
“Indeed, sometimes changes in the government are necessary. And we have heard from our interlocutors here in Kyiv that the new prime minister is suitable for this post. But what interests me most is who will be responsible for defense in Ukraine and what will happen to the defense minister,” emphasized A.Kubilius.
What Zelensky said
After the news about the dismissal of Ukraine’s defense minister M.Fedorov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained to parliamentarians why he decided to part ways with one of his closest allies, writes the portal “Ukrajinska pravda”.
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One of the deputies of the “Servant of the People” party who participated in the parliamentary faction meeting told the portal: “It was obvious that the president found it very difficult to talk about this. For about ten minutes, he simply struggled to find words, phrases, and tried to explain his decision. It seemed rational, but it was clear that Fedorov’s dismissal was an extremely difficult step for him.”
According to the publication’s sources, the president explained that he could no longer tolerate the constant conflicts between the defense minister and the commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“They live in two different worlds. Mychaila wants to digitize everything and build a system based on technology. The military just wants to be heard. They ask to buy one type of weapons, but he refuses and instead finances other areas. They simply stopped listening to each other,” the president said, quoted by one parliamentarian.
Another source quoted an even sharper remark from the president: “It became absurd. Syrskyi would come and say: ‘Fedorov gives nothing for specific operations.’ Then Fedorov would come and respond: ‘We provided everything, they just use it incorrectly, not like that and not in those places.’ And it just went in circles.”
V.Zelensky tried to explain to parliamentarians that his main goal was to restore balance between the armed forces and the government.
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