Who will lead the next Ukraine? USA talk to the opposition on the back of Zelenskyy

Advance elections was discussed: former Ukrainian prime minister and former president tried to please Trump and show that they are “easier” to deal with Zelenskyy. And Trump is not the only one in a hurry.

Without the knowledge of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, high members of Donald Trump’s entourage will have had Secret Conversations With the largest opponents of the Ukrainian President, this Thursday advances.

According to the newspaper specializing in European politics, the four employees of the Trump administration spoke to the former Ukrainian first minister Yulia tymoshenko, Leader of the Pan-Ucranian Union Party “Fatherland”, and with members of the European Solidarity Party, led by the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenkoat a time when Zelenskyy, nicknamed Trump, is increasingly pressured to leave the Ukrainian presidency in a possible agreement to put an end to the Ukraine war in Ukraine for three years.

“I determined that Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, Trump wrote after between the two counterfeit counterparts:“ I want peace. He disrespected the United States in our dear Oval Room. You can come back when ready for peace. ”

Unless adopting a more conciliatory position in relation to Moscow, Zelenskyy may have the days counted as presidentreinforced the National Security Counselor Mike Waltz and important republican senators, such as Lindsey Graham.

Currently, eventual presidential elections are in stand-by due to martial law Ukrainian, in force in the country since February 2022, which wages the polls in war times. Conversations with Zelenskyy’s opposition will have been based on this question: Can Ukraine go to elections in the near future?

On the American side, Trump and Company will be confident in a defeat to Zelenskyy: War tiredness, alleged dissatisfaction and corruption associated with Ukrainian public administration can get it out of power, employees of the new administration believe. But while Trump insists that Ukrainian President “is very bad” in polls, they say otherwise.

Zelenskyy still enjoys enough support to be comfortable. The last one indicates that 44% of Ukrainians would vote for it If the elections were held today, with their nearest competitor, Valery Zaluzhny, losing more than 20 percentage points. Tymoshenko and Poroshenko, who spoke to the US, are far behind, with only 5.7% and 10% support, respectively.

Conversations with Tymoshenko and Poroshenko will have revolved around the idea of ​​going to the polls earlier, after a temporary ceasefire, but before the start of definitive peace conversations with Russia. Both have already manifested themselves against the realization of elections before the end of the war, for two dangerous reasons: instability and Russian interference. Anyway, The two will be trying to please Trump.

“They are positioning themselves as people with whom it would be easier to work with” than Zelenskyy, “as people who would agree with many of the things Zelenskyy is not agreeing,” a US foreign policy expert tells. At a time when Trump is from Russia, this is an opportunity for both of them to win Washington’s favor.

However, the two opponents of the Ukrainian President have already talked about it. Timoshenko said his team is negotiating “with all allies who can help ensure fair peace as soon as possible”; Poroshenko confirmed: “We worked publicly and transparently with the American partners, with the objective of preserving bipartisan support to Ukraine.”

For now, Zelenskyy remains as always, firmface of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. But now: “If there is peace to Ukraine, if you need it even if I leave my position, I’m ready. But it requires something in return: adherence to the born. But with Trump opposing, with no room for doubt, to the adhesion of Ukraine to the alliance, Zelenskyy also opposes his departure from the presidency.

If Zelenskyy really fired, the president of Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchukloyal to the current president, would become interim president under the constitution of Ukraine. It’s with Zelenskyy: “Ukraine needs bullets, not votes,” he says.

But Trump doesn’t seem to be the only one eager for the ceasefireas soon as possible. Data from the Bortnik Institute cited by the policy indicates that about two thirds of Ukrainians want the war to end through negotiations, with half open to major concessions to Russia and the other half in favor of an immediate ceasefire.

In this scenario, more hurry has Tymoshenko, who will be trying to profit from discontent and contact the rivals to persuade them to form a new parliamentary majority in eventual early elections.