His rival is talking to Trump’s team as Washington puts pressure on Zelensky to step aside.
Four senior members of Donald Trump’s aides had a secret debate with Voldimi Zelensky with some of Kiev’s top political opponents, as Washington is working with Moscow to leverage the Ukrainian president from his work.
Trump’s allies held talks with senior allies of implicitly ambitious former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a senior member of the party, Petro Poroshenko, the predecessor of Zelensky’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, according to three Ukrainian lawmakers and US Lipolysian foreign policy experts.
The debate focused on whether Ukraine could hold a quick presidential election. As Ukraine remains under martial law, these are behind the country’s constitution. Critics holding the election say they can challenge the Russian hands as chaotic, and so many potential voters are serving the frontlines and living abroad as refugees.
Trump’s aides are sure Zelensky will lose his vote due to war fatigue and public frustration over rampaging corruption. In fact, his polls have declined for years, but they have picked up in the wake of last week’s oval office brawl. The latest poll shows Zelensky is still comfortable ahead of the presidency race.
The official policy from the US administration is that Trump has not interfered with Ukrainian domestic politics. This week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick denied that his boss “has weighed heavily on Ukrainian politics,” adding that everything Trump wants is a partner in peace.
But the actions of Trump and his officials suggest the exact opposite. Trump accused Zelensky of being an “elector-free dictator,” suggesting that it wouldn’t be “very long” without making a deal with Russia. National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard falsely accused Kyiv of canceling the election.
But while Trump Camp may want the election to sink Zelensky, he is still very popular than Tymoshenko and Poroshenko.
In a poll conducted by British polls this week after the White House explosion, 44% said they would get Zelensky back for the presidency.
His nearest rival is chasing him over 20% points by Valerie Zarziny, a former Army commander who is now Ukraine’s British ambassador. Only 10% have supported Poroshenko, known as the Chocolate King for his sweets empire. Tymoshenko has received just 5.7% support.
Back Channel
The key to all the plans being discussed via the back channel is to hold a presidential election after a temporary ceasefire is agreed, but before full-scale peace negotiations proceed seriously. The idea of early presidential elections is also being promoted by the Kremlin.
Both Tymoshenko and Poroshenko, like Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, are publicly opposed to holding elections before the battle is over. Nevertheless, “Poroshenko and Yulia, they all speak to the Trump world and position themselves as people who are easy to work with. The top Republican foreign policy expert told Politico he would ask that his name be withheld so that he could speak freely.
After the publication of this story, both Tymoshenko and Poroshenko parties issued statements to defend their diplomatic activities. Tymoshenko said her team is “negotiating with all allies who can just ensure peace as quickly as possible.” She added that it is impossible to hold elections at the moment.
Poroshenko said: “We are working publicly and transparently with our American partners, aiming to maintain bipartisan support in Ukraine,” he added that he has repeatedly offered to coordinate contact with Zelensky’s office, and has invited the Ukrainian ambassador to join Washington. “We have spoken publicly repeatedly about our lack of communication in our control team with the US administration, which poses a risk to the state,” he added.
He continued. “The essence of conversations with American representatives has always lie in peace through two principles: security first and strength: weapons, intelligence, sanctions against Russia, financial support, democratic resilience (freedom and democracy), transatlantic unification. Our team has always strived and worked hard in elections during the war.”
Politico also reached out to four members of Trump’s aides who were said to be involved in the debate, but did not respond immediately.
For several days, Trump ministers’ officials have suggested that, with key concessions from Ukraine, Zelensky should be aside unless it is fully mounted on a plan to quickly end the war.
Since the explosive clash at the White House last Friday, Zelensky’s flashy themes subtly show that Ukrainian leaders’ domestic political antagonists’ relationship with Washington is so important that it must recover. It is seen in Kiev as an implicit criticism of Zelensky. He regrets last week’s fiery conflict and says he is ready to work with Trump for peace.
“We see some political factions starting to move,” said Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Political Science. “They are trying to establish informal connections, use connections with Republicans and Trump’s aides, and demonstrate their willingness to work with Washington,” he told Politico.
“They are also signaling publicly, but their words are very soft. But they are showing independent actions to show that Trump is ready to play his game.”
“The elites feel very confused and shocked because they have a very clear understanding that Ukraine would be defeated without US support,” added Boltinik.
This week, several party and factional leaders said Ukraine’s priority must be to repair ties with Trump.
They include Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament and member of Zelensky’s ruling party, and Dmitro Raznkov, who led the party to a 2019 parliamentary victory but now serves as an independent lawmaker. Razumkov requested an urgent Congressional session to establish a special legislative group to oversee relations with the United States.
This week, Trump’s decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine only adds Ukrainian political warnings, boosting Ukrainian politicians’ back channels with the Trump world.
On Monday, Trump groaned that Zelensky “not too long” without progress in the peace deal that would satisfy him. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Washington needs a leader who can “deal with us, ultimately deal with the Russians and end this war.”
The US President’s Capitol Hill allies have also maintained a drumbeat against Zelensky, with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham suggesting that Ukraine “needs to make someone new” unless Zelensky comes to see things like Trump.
It all urges Trump world to pay the courts to get that blessing to Zelensky’s domestic political opponents and even former allies. “They position themselves as the best people to work with. Republican experts are those who agree with many things that Zelensky doesn’t agree with.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told Politico’s Power Play Podcast that the election was merely a benefit of Moscow.
“Trump believes that Ukraine doesn’t care if it has an election. Putin’s story, the goal of President Putin. Trump is being used by Putin, imposing only one election on Ukraine for the purpose of one thing, weakening us from within. He wants to remove Zelensky as it is a symbol of our resistance. Putin understands that the campaigns during the war era are destructive for our unity and stability,” he said.
Poaching Congressman
The trembling from the oval office bust-up also sparks talk of a reorganization of the Congress.
Tymoshenko has been approaching lawmakers from rival parties in recent weeks and is trying to persuade her faction to join after losing her faction. She says that in her view, Zelensky has no choice but to immediately call an election and provide a great opportunity to shape the new Congress majority.
Zelensky himself joked with a London reporter over the weekend, joking that even if the election took place this year, he would likely win. “You’ll have to prevent me from participating in the election,” he said. He suggested that, as he had previously, he would resign only if Ukraine received a NATO membership.
In the face of that, Trump’s attacks had not weakened Zelensky. Zelensky was first to receive widespread praise, even by critics, for standing in an oval office. But as the potential effects of the breakdown between Kiev and Washington are absorbed, the predictable Rally Round the Leader’s effectiveness is exhausted, Boltnik said. He argued that the country’s politics were very fluid.
Public opinion is also beginning to change regarding war, primarily forming the army and its parents, hoping to continue the war until the Russians are driven out of everything in Ukraine. However, two-thirds of the population are focused on consultations and hope for the war to end. Analyses of voting data by the Boltnik Institute reveals that half of those ready to accept key concessions by Ukraine, and the other half are keen on an immediate ceasefire.