Zelensky Taps New Chief Of Staff With Rival Gen. Zaluzhnyi Waiting In The Wings: What It Means

President Zelensky has made some highly significant staff changes this week, which without doubt impacts the future trajectory of the war with Russia. This comes off what has been changeover in high ministry and staff positions in a Ukrainian government rocked by an embarrassing energy corruption scandal. The investigation is even getting close to Zelensky himself.

The Ukrainian leader has just announced he is filling the position of his chief of staff with the head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service (GUR) General Kyrylo Budanov.

Budanov has accepted the new position, while The NY Times confirms, "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said Friday that he had asked Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the country’s military intelligence agency, to be his new chief of staff, filling a weekslong vacancy left by the resignation of Mr. Zelensky's right-hand man over a corruption scandal."

Yes, lots of turnover at top levels, and looming large in the background is Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, who is rumored to be stepping down next month as ambassador to the UK.

There are reports that Zaluzhnyi - who remains immensely popular among military ranks - recently turned down Zelensky's offers of prime minister and chief of staff. This amid speculation that he hopes to challenge for the presidency in the event of elections.

Zelensky is under some degree of pressure from the White House on multiple fronts, including making territorial compromises related to the Trump-backed peace deal, as well as the need to hold elections after nearly four years of martial law and canceled parliamentary and presidential elections. President Putin has used this to declare Zelensky 'illegitimate'.

As for Budavov, the Times notes that this could be an effort to coopt a political rival:

Mr. Budanov has been seen as a potential rival to Mr. Zelensky as the United States and Russia call for elections in Ukraine. Bringing the general into the presidential office could complicate any run by Mr. Budanov for the presidency.

In announcing his intention to appoint him, Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine "needs greater focus on security issues," the development of its defense and security forces, and further progress on the diplomatic track of negotiations.

But the bigger rival and true wild card in all this remains Amb. (former general) Zaluzhnyi.

Both Budavov and Zaluzhnyi are perceived as having a more 'realist' and pragmatic approach when it comes to winding the war down on terms acceptable to Kiev. Zelensky is still pushing maximalist demands based on 'freezing' the line of contact, refusing political recognitions of Russia's hold on the Donbass, and also wanting NATO Article 5-style protections from Washington and Europe.

Geopolitical analysis source Moon of Alabama sees Budanov's elevation to chief of presidential staff as a plus in the direction of peace:

One aspect of interest here is the rivalry between the CIA and its British MI-6 competition. Yermak, the ousted former head of Zelenki’s office, had good relation with MI-6. Zaluzhni is likewise seen as a British intelligence asset. Budanov in contrast is a CIA figure. The U.S. would like to shut down the war, at least for now. The British have tried to prolong it. In his new position Budanov can move the scale towards the U.S. favored outcome.

Budanov has been warning cryptically for some time that Ukraine will lose the war against Russia. He will now take the role of the de facto chief negotiator of a peace deal.

Trump has laudably made real attempts to end the now nearly four-year long war, but still hasn't done everything he could do (perhaps easily) to pressure Zelensky into ceding the necessary territory.

One 'simple' solution to making peace happen might look like this: completely cut off all US weapons and funds, as well as any and all intelligence-sharing. The US has real leverage which it clearly hasn't fully used.

Budanov as point man and top negotiator in Zelensky's office could serve as a much needed reset in US-Ukraine dealings and ongoing peace talks. Zelensky is certainly not seen as the leader toward peace, and all of these changes - also amid the diplomatically embarrassing top level energy corruption crisis - suggests some level of optimism on the peace settlement front for the coming year. Of course, from the Kremlin point of view he's just another Ukrainian official who has repeatedly expressed his goal of killing Russians.

This could get Good, Bad, or Ugly: "The CIA likes him too"...

Zelensky wants to replace Yermak with Budanov.
The reasons?

1. To kneecap Budanov’s popularity ahead of the presidential elections — nothing kills a rating faster than proximity to Zelensky.

2. To boost Zelensky's own numbers: the people love Budanov, especially after the… pic.twitter.com/AXWh8zHfLm

— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) January 2, 2026

With Ukraine losing on the battlefield, the needle could finally be moving toward final resolution. Drone attacks on Russian oil and energy sites have surely been costly for Moscow, but certainly not on the level now facing Ukraine's energy grid, and an exhausted Ukrainian population in frigid winters, amid rolling emergency blackouts, that wants to see real change in direction at the time. The common citizenry has long asked: how much longer will this tragic war and nightmare drag on?