Newspaper: West wants to help Zelenski set up government in exile

Ukraine’s allies are planning in the background how they can help establish and support a Ukrainian government in exile, which could lead guerrilla operations against the Russian occupiers from Poland. This was reported by the American newspaper The Washington Post on Saturday, based on interviews with various American and European officials.

The plans are based on a Russian military victory that is not yet in sight, but which seems likely, the newspaper writes. “We are now planning for every possibility, including a scenario where (Ukraine President) Zelensky establishes a government in exile in Poland,” said a US government official, who, like others, spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

A senior Ukrainian official told The Washington Post that Zelensky has discussed with US officials whether he should move west or to a safer place closer to the border with Poland, such as the city of Lviv. But Zelensky “stays in Kiev and has assured his citizens that he will not leave,” she said. Zelensky’s security service does have “plans ready to move him and members of his cabinet soon. But so far he has refused to go.”