Anna Hartz
Valerii Zaluzhnyi once stood at the center of Ukraine’s defense. Today he serves as the country’s ambassador in London.
From that position he still speaks with the weight of someone who has seen every phase of the war. In a recent analysis for the independent Ukrainian outlet Liga, he opened a door many have hesitated to touch.
He said the war might not end with one side winning and the other losing. It could end in a different way. History is full of such endings. They are not glorious, but they are real.
A Collapse of the Russian Empire?
Zaluzhnyi wrote that Ukrainians naturally reach for the idea of complete victory. In his view that would mean the collapse of Russia’s imperial ambitions. Many in Ukraine hold on to that hope. He does not dismiss it. He simply refuses to pretend that it is the only possible outcome.
He said the country should not rule out a long pause in the fighting. Such a pause could last for years. It could also bring space for political change.
It could allow reforms that Ukraine has delayed for too long. It could let the country repair what has been broken and build an economy strong enough to carry people home again.
No War Without a Political Purpose
He believes a long pause could even create the conditions for a secure state. He described it as a state protected to the greatest extent possible. Security, in his view, is not only a military question. It is also a matter of institutions that work, borders that hold, and a society that trusts its own future.
For Zaluzhnyi the most important political goal is simple. Ukraine must remove Russia’s ability to attack again in the near future. Nothing else matters if that goal is left unfinished.
He wrote that wars cannot be understood without a political purpose. He learned this early in his career. He carried the idea with him through every difficult year. It explains why armies can win battles yet lose direction. Without a clear political aim, no strategy can carry a country forward.
Zaluzhnyi was removed as commander in chief in February 2024 after four years in the role. His words now come from a different office. The concerns behind them have not changed.
