2023-02-15T18:47:00+02:00 Politics 2024-09-15T05:53:00+03:00

Ukrainian news

Zelenskyy Decides To Keep Reznikov In Position Of Defense Minister

Zelenskyy Decides To Keep Reznikov In Position Of Defense Minister

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to keep him in office.

Reznikov said this in an interview with Reuters, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Answering a journalist's question whether he plans to remain in the position of Minister of Defense in the coming months, he replied: "Yes, it was decision of my President."

The minister also said that he is confident that the West will provide Ukraine with fighter jets to help fight the invasion of the Russian Federation, although some of them are still cool with this idea.

Reznikov noted that Ukraine's allies have already provided a number of Western weapons systems after initially saying they would not.

According to him, the fighter jets are needed as part of a wider air defense system to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks.

"We vitally need aviation as a bridgehead to protect our skies. We must dominate in our Ukrainian skies. This will primarily protect our civilian population and, of course, our Armed Forces," the minister noted.

According to Reznikov, F-16 fighter jets would be the best to transfer to Ukraine, as they are used by many countries.

The minister noted that air defense remains a priority of Ukraine from the point of view of military assistance.

He said that if Russia launches a major offensive, it will more actively involve its own air force.

"If they start a real offensive campaign, they will certainly use aviation from their side, trying to stop our defense forces. That is, it is a real threat, so a more advanced, more modern aviation is needed - to stop them, to defeat them, to contain them." Reznikov assured.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, who is called a probable candidate for the position of the new Minister of Defense, will not be able to be appointed to this position, because he is not a civilian.

On February 5, the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Davyd Arakhamia, said that the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, will head the Ministry of Defense instead of Oleksii Reznikov, Reznikov - the Ministry of Strategic Industries instead of Pavlo Riabikin, acting Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko will head the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a minister, and Vasyl Maliuk, acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, will be appointed head of the SSU.

Subsequently, Arakhamia announced that personnel changes in the field of defense will not take place this week.