Four senior officials from US President Donald Trump's entourage held secret talks with some of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's main political opponents in Kyiv. They discussed the elections. This was reported by Politico.
According to three Ukrainian lawmakers and a US Republican foreign policy expert, Trump representatives held talks with the “ruthlessly ambitious former prime minister” Yulia Tymoshenko, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky’s immediate predecessor as president.
Discussions focused on whether Ukraine can hold early presidential elections, which are being postponed in accordance with the country's constitution as Ukraine remains under martial law.
As Politico notes, Trump aides are confident that Zelensky will lose all votes due to war fatigue and public discontent over corruption. The publication noted that in a poll conducted by the British sociological center Survation this week, 44% said they would support Zelensky for the presidency. His closest rival, who lags behind him by more than 20%, is Valeriy Zaluzhny, who is currently Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Only 10% supported Poroshenko, and Tymoshenko received only 5,7% support.
The official US administration position is that Trump is not interfering in Ukraine’s domestic politics. This week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik denied that his boss was “interfering in Ukrainian politics,” adding that all Trump wants is partnerships for peace.
But the behavior of Trump and his officials suggests otherwise. Trump accused Zelenskyy of being a “dictator without an election,” and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Kyiv of annulling the election.
But while the Trump camp hopes the election will unseat Zelensky, he remains far more popular than Tymoshenko and Poroshenko.
The key to all the plans being discussed unofficially is to hold a presidential election after a temporary ceasefire is agreed but before full-scale peace talks begin in earnest. The idea of early presidential elections is also being pushed by the Kremlin, which has wanted to get rid of Zelensky for years.
Both Tymoshenko and Poroshenko have publicly opposed holding elections until the fighting ends, as has Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. However, "Poroshenko's people and Yulia, they all communicate with Trump's representatives, positioning themselves as people who would be easier to work with. And people who would agree to many of the things that Zelensky does not agree to," — a leading Republican foreign policy expert told Politico.
When asked whether Tymoshenko participated in negotiations with members of the US administration or Trump's entourage regarding the presidential election or peace talks, her press secretary Natalia Lysova thanked Politico for the interest shown. "We will not comment on this for now," she said.
Politico also contacted Poroshenko's European Solidarity party to ask about talks with Trump's people to discuss the election. The press service responded: "Our goal is not to promote elections, but to ensure free and fair competitive post-war elections in our country."
"It is also logical that any contacts include presenting the vision of President Poroshenko and European Solidarity on ways to end the war through a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, as well as on the limits of possible compromises on negotiation points," — the statement says.
For several days now, representatives of the Trump cabinet have been suggesting that Zelensky resign if he does not fully support the US plan to end the war as soon as possible, even if this requires serious concessions from Ukraine.
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