Zelensky's former Right-Hand Man: He is Personally Responsible for the Failure of the Counteroffensive, We must Leave Crimea to Putin

The former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Oleksii Arestovych, issued severe criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he blamed personally for the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

In an interview with Meduza, Arestovych, now accused of being a Russian agent by the authorities in Kyiv, announced his intention to run for the presidency of Ukraine whenever elections are held and said that Crimea and other Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories must now be left to the Russians until there is a change of power in the Kremlin.

"We can say that on March 31 the mandate of the president [of Ukraine Zelensky] expires. And there must be another election. Any postponement of the presidential elections will be considered a usurpation of power in Ukrainian society. Also, 2024 is a very specific year. The Russian presidential election in March, the US presidential election in November and the European Parliament elections. Thus, all our main partners and enemies will be re-legitimized in 2024, and the Ukrainian government, if it does not hold elections, will not be re-legitimized," Arestovych said.

Zelensky's former adviser said he was being repressed and persecuted by the current authorities in Kyiv, which accuse him of openly working for Vladimir Putin. "Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, who reports directly to Zelensky, said that I am a Russian spy, I am acting in Russian interests, and law enforcement agencies are interested in me. I believe that there is political pressure on me for my oppositional position," Arestovych said.

He is currently abroad, where he says he is giving lectures, but he is adamant about his desire to participate in the presidential elections, even abroad.

Arestovych stated in his "election program" that in Ukraine there should be freedom for all other languages, including Russian. “[Now in Ukraine] we cannot consider ourselves free. It is necessary to stop the persecution of the Russian language. Persecution for the use of any language on our territory must be severely curtailed. Priority will be given to Ukrainian, state aid will be directed to the development of Ukrainian, but all other languages will be freely present," he said.

Regarding Crimea and the rest of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, Arestovych said: "We have to wait for Putin to leave power and with the new Russian leadership we will return to the issues of the occupied territories. The next leadership, I'm sure, will be more sensible than Putin. I have a very strong feeling that only Putin, Shoigu and some people associated with them really want war. All other people are quite reasonable, they understand that Russia is part of the civilized West and they want to return to normal life."

"Our army failed to capture Tokmok. It is quite possible that the country will soon lose Avdiivka. We are definitely not talking about any borders here since 1991. Also, when the Ukrainians survive the winter, when there are strikes on the country's [energy] infrastructure, I think the number of people who want a war to the end will decrease. As an alternative, I propose not just handing over the occupied territories to Russia, but joining NATO, receiving political and military guarantees from the bloc, the possibility of peaceful development, economic [growth] and culture. And then calmly wait for the regime to change in Russia. It's been done before in history and we can do it again," Arestovych said.

"We need to build relations with Russia, which is our neighbor. People like Putin come and go, but Russia remains. We are all interested in two things. First, for Russia to become a strong, free, democratic state. Second, for Russia to be part of the West. And so that it does not fall under the influence of China and does not become a nuclear satellite of China," said Arestovych.

According to him, Zelensky and his team have taken actions that are against the national interests of Ukraine. "The counteroffensive (of the Ukrainian army) just finished me because I know why it failed. Since the president requested the transfer of troops to the Bakhmut direction - from my point of view, this is absolute madness. And a significant part of the blame for the failure of the counter-offensive lies personally with Zelensky," Arestovych said.

Read more from the 618h day of the war in Ukraine.

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