Zaluzhnyi said that at the end of 2023, it became clear that Ukraine had no political goal for the war

At the end of 2023, it became clear that Ukraine had no political goal for the war. This follows from the words of the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom Valery Zaluzhnyi in exclusive column for LIGA.net.

"The political goal of the war is what answers all the questions. It is this term that makes it possible to see not only what the enemy is doing, but also how to move forward. And if, according to the same [German military theorist] Clausewitz, war is a "trinity": the population, the armed forces, and the state administration, then these aspects are three different codes of laws, and among these parties, the population is the most sensitive party in terms of supporting the war," he notes.

Zaluzhnyi emphasizes that without public support it is impossible to wage a successful war, and perhaps the main form of such support is the attitude of society, first of all, to mobilization, which "rapidly began to fail."

The former army chief reminds that, as Clausewitz emphasized, in order to have the support of the population, it is important that the public is well informed and can distinguish between "right" and "wrong", "their own" and "someone else's".

"Naturally, the support of the population is strongest and most tangible for the 'own' and 'right', i.e. national, and in practice it becomes unconditional when it is directly exposed to danger. Any threat that is perceived as a direct threat to the independence of the state can be a danger," explains the former military officer.

Therefore, he adds, it is obvious that no matter how much the military command tries to formulate a military strategy for a certain period, it "will not have any result without political will, which is formed through a political goal."

Zaluzhnyi notes that Clausewitz's theory is based on the fact that wars are usually fought for political rather than military purposes and "are driven not so much by physical as by ideological forces."

"One evening (we are talking about the end of 2023 – Ed.), I gave the command to raise all the policy documents that came to the General Staff of the Armed Forces to find out what the political goal of the war was. Maybe we missed something. Because only with the formation of a political goal will all state actors try to reach the outlined line on the horizon. Which can then claim victory. Unfortunately, we didn't miss anything then..." the former army chief said.

In the same text, he writes that perhaps the main political goal for Ukraine is to deprive Russia of the opportunity to commit acts of aggression against Ukraine in the foreseeable future. You can read the full column exclusively on LIGA.net.

• In the same text, Zaluzhnyi states that Russia's war against Ukraine may end and without the victory or defeat of one of the countries.
• The former military officer also believes that in the future, the development of technology and weapons may lead to the fact that guarantees of their security will be needed not only by Ukraine, but also by Russia.
• The former chief of staff notes that since mid-2019, Russia has been preparing for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, deploying troops along the border. This invasion was met by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a huge shortage of everything from people to weapons.