Donald Trump He says he wants to end the Ukraine War, and for this he has chosen a hard strategy: to be friendly to Russian President Vladimir Putin (whom he Describe with appreciation and whose red lines defends) and derogatory with the Ukrainian Volodímir Zelenski. It can be a negotiating technique, consisting of taking Russia from its international isolation based on good words and, at the same time, soften Ukraine to lower their expectations.
Trump has insulted Zelenski of all possible ways. He has called him “dictator” for not celebrating the elections provided for last spring, postponed by war; has said that it is a comic baddespite being one of the most popular in Ukraine and Russia; And he has falsely assured that he has only 4% approval of his compatriots, when he is actually 63%. He has blamed him for the beginning of the war, although the invasion was ordered by Putin.
Zelenski has endured the chaparrón. He has responded with data to the Republican leader and now prepares to turn page. This Friday meets Trump at the White House. It is expected that both sign an agreement for the transfer of mineral exploitation rights of Ukraine in exchange for the military aid provided by the United States and, perhaps, the continuation of it.
“The meeting between Trump and Zelenski is very important because it is the first since Trump has been chosen,” he tells El Periódico de España Oleksandr Merezhkodeputy for Zelenski’s party, Town server, and President of the Outdoor Table of the Supreme Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine. “I hope that direct and face to face between the two helps to correct any misunderstanding, to improve the environment between them and to start a new chapter in our relationships.”
Zelenski’s legitimacy
This Friday will be seen aside to Zelenski, a president of a small seventy meter high and a very dark future ahead, next to the corpulent American president, twenty centimeters moreor, and in the middle of the premiere of the new administration. But the Ukrainian arrives in the United States aveled by the recent support of its political establishment and its population.
Archive – Volodimir Zelenski and Donald Trump. /Europa Press/Contact/UKRAINE PRESIDENCY – Archive
The Rada reaffirmed on Tuesday the legitimacy of Zelenski as president, in a resolution in which it is justified that the planned elections have not yet been held. In a text baptized as “Declaration of support for democracy in Ukraine against the aggression of the Russian Federation”it is remembered that by the Constitution, elections cannot be made in full martial law, declared by the war situation. It was approved with the vote in favor of 268 and 12 abstentions, of the total of 401 deputies of the current rada.
“The Poroshenko party, European solidarity [principal opositor] He did not vote, but they always emphasize that they defend the legitimacy of the president, ”explains Oleksandr Merezhko. “All RADA parties have agreed that There will be elections six months later that martial law is raised ”.
They claim that there are no sufficient guarantees or security or for the presence of international observers, in addition to that part of the population is out of the country or in occupied areas.
Sanctions for opposition and prohibition of parties
On February 14, the National Security Council, controlled by Zelenski, decreed 17 sanctions against former president and main opponent, Petro Poroshenko. They blocked their business assets and forbade him to carry out national or international commercial operations, among other measures. Critics have interpreted the measure as an attempt by Zelenski to end their opponent for future elections.
Besides, Many games are out of the Rada. Shortly after starting the war, Zelenski ordered, using martial law, the prohibition until the end of the conflict of 11 parties, for its connections with the Russian Federation. The main one was opposition platform – for life, the main opposition party, led by an oligarch friend of Putin, which had 44 of the 450 seats. Socialist left and communist parties were also illegal.
There are currently four great features in the Ukrainian Parliament: town servants, Zelenski’s party; European solidarity, that of Poroshenko and Holos, explains the aforementioned deputy.
Increasing support of 63%
Shortly after Trump assured that Zelenski has only one “4% support”, the main polishing company of Ukraine, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published a survey made between November and January in which it was shown that, in reality, 63% of the Ukrainees approve Zelenski as president (26% support them completely and 37% tend to 37% sympathize with him). It is a figure that goes up to 2024. Only 14% say they disapprove at all and 18% tend to disapprove. The survey has not been able to do for obvious reasons in the east areas of the country occupied by Russia. Seven out of ten consider you an intelligent person. Zelenski won the 2019 elections with an unprecedented support of 75% of voters. The rest was for former president Petro Poroshenko, of the European Solidarity Party.
There are also data on how Ukrainians want to manage Some possible elections. “In May 2024, 70% said they wanted the situation to stay as it is, with Zelenski President until the martial law ends and, just after the suspension, presidential elections,” he explains Tymofii BrikRector of the kyiv School of Economics. “11% believe that martial law must be suspended for three months,” he says, using data from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Zelenski is still the most popular president, but that does not guarantee victory. Three out of ten respondents are willing to vote in the first round, five points above their opponent Poroshenko. There are other very popular figures, such as the General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander in chief and now Ukraine ambassador to the United Kingdom. He says he has no political ambitions, but it could be a renovating figure in an election.
After the roller -scale invasion, there has been an effect in Ukraine known as “rally round the flag”. A temporary alignment around the figure of the president. With that legitimacy, Zelenski will negotiate this Friday the future of Ukraine with Trump in the White House.
