Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov received an offer from President Volodymyr Zelensky for the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Military Innovations.
Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov received an offer from President Volodymyr Zelensky for the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Military Innovations.
Zelensky himself stated this during a briefing, LB reports.
«There must be coordination with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, with the commander-in-chief of our army, with the General Staff, and, of course, with the President of Ukraine,» he said.
According to the president, Fedorov had previously been offered several other positions. At the same time, the president did not say anything about Fedorov’s own decision to accept this or other positions.
Zelensky is also waiting for proposals from the new Commander-in-Chief, Mykhailo Drapaty, regarding personnel restructuring in the army.
At the same time, he believes that former commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi «should pass on his experience to the new command.»
«It is very important that they can hear each other now,» the president commented on the relationship between Syrsky and Drapaty.
He added that the key issues to be resolved remain «the issues of closing the sky and the issue of the CCC, that is, the normal face of mobilization.» The President hopes that these issues will be resolved with the active cooperation of all high-ranking officials involved.
At the same time, the president explained the appointment of former Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council by saying that the main challenge now will be getting through the winter.
According to Zelensky, the tasks of former NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov will remain negotiations on ending the war, the Drone Deal, and the Freya ballistic project.
UPD. Mikhail Fedorov announced that he is refusing all other offers from the president, except for the post of Minister of Defense.
This was reported by Fedorov’s former advisor Serhiy Sternenko. The former Minister of Defense thanked Zelensky for the position options he offered him, but noted that Ukraine «has only three positions that, apart from the military on the battlefield, really determine the course of the war.» According to him, these are the president, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Minister of Defense.
«That is why I do not agree to any other position except the position of Minister of Defense. None of the other positions has real powers to combat corruption in procurement, complete the transformation of the army that has been started, plan and implement asymmetric actions and operations against the enemy, eradicate the culture of lies and irresponsibility within the system, and complete other things that our team has already started in the Ministry of Defense,» Fedorov said.
He added that none of the other positions «has real authority to combat corruption in procurement,» complete the ongoing transformation of the army, or plan and implement asymmetric actions and operations against the enemy.
Zelenskyy had previously said that he offered Fedorov «a worthy proposal in power that would allow us to unite the technological component of our state.»
After his resignation, Fedorov also stated at a briefing that Zelenskyy had offered him the position of advisor to the president, but he refused.
