Kiev must prepare for a possible reduction in aid from its Western allies, Ukrainian army chief General Valery Zaluzny warned in an op-ed posted on the CNN website Thursday, amid continued rumors of his imminent ouster. from office because of his not infrequent public disagreements with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military man, highly popular in his country—more so than the head of state, at least according to Ukrainian media and polling institutes (92% versus 77%)—, emphasized in the text that Ukraine is obliged to prepare for the possible “reduction of military support of our main allies” because of “their own internal political tensions”.

At the EU summit yesterday it was decided to grant aid of 50 billion billion euros to Ukraine over the next four years, which until now has been blocked by Hungary. The US Senate is expected to present a new proposal for aid to the Ukrainian army within the week.

However, the general warned, “the stockpiles of missiles, ammunition for air defense systems and ammunition for artillery of our partners are running out, due to the intensity of hostilities in Ukraine and due to the global shortage of propellant charges.”

General Zaluzny also reminded Russia that it has a manpower advantage and the ability to recruit more, underscoring the reluctance of its Ukrainian parliament and government to take “unpopular measures” to recruit more Ukrainians — an increasingly unpopular issue in the country. . It was this very issue that reportedly prompted the president to ask him to resign, according to reports.

The army has asked President Zelensky to proceed with the conscription of half a million men. He emphasizes that Russia has deployed 600,000 members of its armed forces on Ukrainian territory.

But in January, the Ukrainian parliament refused to even discuss a controversial draft law on conscription. A second draft law is currently being discussed.

“We continue to be paralyzed by the shortcomings of the regulatory framework and monopolies in the defense industry,” the general said in the text, amid the persistent scenario since the beginning of the week about President Zelensky’s decision to remove him from the leadership of the armed forces.

General Zelensky insists that Ukraine must immediately scale up its own production of “comparatively cheap, modern and highly effective” unmanned vehicles.

The head of the armed forces makes absolutely no judgment in the text either on the alleged demand of the president to give up the leadership of the army, or on the situation on the fronts, some 1,000 kilometers long.

Rumors of irreconcilable differences of opinion between Mr. Zelensky and Zaluzny’s spat escalated after the general gave an interview to The Economist magazine in November, when he said the war had reached a “stalemate”, which the president indignantly denied.

An official of the Ukrainian presidency assured yesterday that no decision has been taken to remove the general “to date”, adding that the issue should not be “politicized”.

In the text the general reiterated that Ukraine must find new ways to secure an advantage over Russia as the war heads into its third year this month. He referred in particular to technological means such as aerial and maritime drones.

These and “other types of advanced weapons” will enable Kiev to avoid being dragged into a “war of positions” in which “we have no advantage,” he explained.

He insisted that Kiev’s goal should be to “maximize the provision of the most technologically advanced combat capabilities,” which “will allow us to use fewer resources to inflict maximum damage” on Russia.