KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced the head of Ukraine’s security service Monday, continuing a top-level reshuffle ahead of a trip to Paris where he hoped to finalize agreements with allies on how to ensure that Russia doesn’t repeat its invasion if a peace agreement is signed.
Zelenskyy is trying to revamp his administration as the grinding war of attrition with Russia marks its fourth anniversary next month. He is keen to keep up the momentum of U.S.-led peace talks as well as sharpen Ukraine’s focus on defense if those efforts collapse.
The Paris talks are expected to include the leaders of about 30 countries, dubbed the “coalition of the willing,” which are ready to provide security guarantees to keep Ukraine safe in the future.
Key issues include whether countries are prepared to deploy troops inside or close to Ukraine and what the remit of any force overseeing a ceasefire might be. Russia has said it won’t accept troops from NATO countries on Ukrainian soil.
Zelenskyy's changes at the top
Zelenskyy also announced the appointment of Canada’s former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland as Ukraine’s economic development adviser, describing her as an expert on the issues with “significant experience in attracting investment and carrying out economic transformations.”
Amid Ukraine’s biggest top-level reshuffle in about six months, Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service, or SBU, announced his resignation on the agency’s website.
Zelenskyy published a decree on the presidential website appointing Ievhen Khmara, former head of the “A” Special Operations Center of the Security Service, as the agency’s acting head.
Under Maliuk, the SBU produced some stunning successes against Russia, including Operation Spiderweb, which Ukraine said damaged or destroyed 41 Russian military aircraft in coordinated strikes on four air bases.
On Friday, Zelenskyy appointed the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence as his new chief of staff.
Announcing the appointment of Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to focus on security issues, developing its defense and security forces, and peace talks — areas that are overseen by the office of the president.
New adviser has been a staunch critic of Putin
Zelenskyy also is looking to strengthen the war-battered economy, including through projects in partnership with the U.S. and other countries. Freeland, who is of Ukrainian heritage and is a strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a former journalist and Canadian lawmaker.
Besides being a former deputy prime minister, she also served as Canada’s minister of international trade, foreign minister and finance minister, and helped negotiate trade agreements with both Europe and the U.S.
The Harvard University graduate has served as Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine — a position outside the Cabinet — in addition to her responsibilities as a lawmaker.
Freeland and U.S. President Donald Trump have had a sometimes-fraught relationship that could work against Ukraine. In Trump’s first term, Freeland played a key role in negotiating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, and occasionally frustrated Trump aides with her tactics.
During Trump’s first meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office, the president recalled his own antipathy for Freeland. “She was terrible, actually -- she was a terrible person,” Trump said.
When Freeland left former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet, Trump said on social media that “her behavior was totally toxic.”
One opposition lawmaker in Canada argued that Freeland could not be a member of the country’s parliament and at the same time work as an adviser to a foreign government.
Ukraine seeks to counter size of Russian forces
In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a proposed U.S.-brokered peace deal was “90% ready” but warned that the remaining 10%, believed to include issues such as the future of disputed territory, would determine the outcome of the push for peace.
Moscow hasn't been forthcoming about details of the negotiations. Officials have, however, restated Russia's demands and insist there can be no ceasefire until a comprehensive settlement is agreed.
The fighting has not subsided along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line that snakes along southern and eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he met with Budanov on Monday to look at ways to reduce Russia's edge in larger armed forces.
“Russia has one significant advantage in this war, namely the ability to put pressure on Ukraine with the scale of strikes, the scale of assaults,” he said on social media. “We have and must respond with more active use of technology, faster development of new types of weapons, new tactics.”
An overnight Russian drone strike at a private clinic in Kyiv’s Obolon district killed a 30-year-old old patient and injured three others, the capital’s prosecutor’s office said Monday.
Energy workers and repair crews worked across the country after Russian drones damaged energy infrastructure, causing more power disruptions for civilians in the bitter winter, Zelenskyy said. Russia fired nine ballistic missiles and 165 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, the air force said Monday.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Yelets, in Russia’s western Lipetsk region, according to regional Gov. Igor Artamonov. There were no casualties, he said.
The Russian airports of Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl briefly suspended flights because of Ukrainian drone attacks, authorities said.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing another 50 Ukrainian drones later Monday over the Belgorod, Kursk and Lipetsk regions.
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