Zaluzhnyi denies forming political party or campaign headquarters: ‘I have no ties to any political force’

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom, on Wednesday denied media reports suggesting he was forming a political group or recruiting military personnel for participation in an alleged electoral campaign.

His statement came after Ukrainian outlets cited an article from the French publication Intelligence Online, which claimed Zaluzhnyi had approached several high-ranking officials with a proposal to support him if he were to run for president and join his prospective party list.

Zaluzhnyi criticised Ukrainian media for “immediately spreading fake news in a country at war.”

“I do not endorse any idea of holding elections during wartime. Anyone who receives an offer, supposedly on my behalf, to join any initiative through any organisation, should immediately report it to law enforcement. I am not creating any headquarters or party and, in principle, have no ties to any political force,” Zaluzhnyi said.

The former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and current Ambassador to the UK said he remained committed to public service as long as he had “the opportunity to serve the state.” He reiterated his firm stance that no elections should be held in Ukraine while the war continues.

“The enemy that failed to win on the battlefield, just as it did 100 years ago, now uses modern tools such as anonymous sources, bots and media to divide our society and prepare it for elections, but for the State Duma of the country that is killing us,” Zaluzhnyi added.

His comments follow a disinformation campaign launched on July 29 by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, which claimed that US and UK representatives held a secret meeting in the Alps with senior Ukrainian officials to allegedly agree on Zaluzhnyi’s candidacy for Ukraine’s presidency.