Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to sack Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi from his post due to his alleged involvement in secret talks with Western officials about pursuing a ceasefire with Russia, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed.

On Monday, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko cited sources as saying that Zaluzhnyi was allegedly ordered to resign. However, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and Zelensky's spokesman denied the claims.

"Zelensky’s desire to fire his commanding general is the result, some Americans believe, of his knowledge that Zaluzhnyi had continued to participate - whether directly or through aides is not known - in secret talks since last fall with American and other Western officials on how best to achieve a ceasefire and negotiate an end to the war with Russia," Hersh said on Thursday.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources, that the Ukrainian government had postponed the dismissal of Zaluzhnyi due to a leak of information about his possible resignation. The government planned to sack Zaluzhnyi, but on Monday evening, when the information was leaked, it decided to back off, the report said, adding that now, the government is slowing down the process.

According to reports, Zelensky was forced to reverse his decision as international partners, including the United States and the United Kingdom, expressed concern about his actions.

The Ukrainian President reportedly met with Zaluzhnyi to inform the general of the decision to fire him. Instead, Zelensky offered Zaluzhnyi the post of secretary of the country’s security council, but the latter turned it down.

Seymour Hersh: Russia, Ukraine peace underway, 4 new region additions

In one of his newly released articles, Hersh assured that peace negotiations between top Russian and Ukrainian generals Valery Gerasimov and Valerii Zaluzhnyi respectively are currently underway which include the potential security of Crimea and another four former regions of Ukraine as part of Russia.

Included in the potential deal would also be Russia's agreement to Ukraine’s accession to NATO provided that NATO troops are not stationed on its territory and only defensive weaponry is located there.

According to Hersh, both Russia and Ukraine agree that the persistence of war is illogical and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be with an agreement that fixates borders according to where the troops are stationed after the end of peace negotiations.

Hersh cited a US official involved in the top negotiations as saying: "This was not a spur-of-the-moment event," adding: "This was carefully orchestrated by Zaluzhny. The message was the war was over and we want out. To continue it would destroy the next generation of the citizens of Ukraine."  

On the other hand, the Biden administration is strongly opposing the peace deal while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains the "wild card" but has been allegedly told that "this is a military-to-military problem to solve and the talks will go on with or without you". 

"The White House is totally against the proposed agreement," the US official said, noting: "But it will happen. Putin has not disagreed."

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