Four key members of the inner circle of the United States (U.S.)President Donald Trump have reportedly engaged in secret talks with leading political opponents of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, as Washington aligns with Moscow to push the Ukrainian president out of office, U.S. media reported.
Three Ukrainian delegates and a U.S. Republican foreign policy expert said that Trump’s allies met with Ukrainian opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as well as senior figures from the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s predecessor.
The talks focused on the possibility of holding expedited presidential elections in Ukraine.
Elections, however, are currently postponed due to constitutional restrictions under martial law. Opponents of the elections argue that holding them under the current conditions could lead to unrest and benefit Russia, given that many voters are on the front lines or displaced abroad.
Trump’s aides believe Zelenskyy would lose the elections due to war fatigue and concerns about corruption. Although his ratings have been declining for years, they rose after last week’s clash in the Oval Office, where Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance attacked the Ukrainian leader before showing him the door.
However, according to the latest poll, Zelenskyy is in the lead.
The U.S. denies interference, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that Trump does not “influence Ukrainian politics,” but is looking for a “partner for peace.”
Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections,” while National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard falsely claimed that Kyiv had canceled the vote.
Despite Trump’s hopes, Zelenskyy remains more popular than his rivals according to a Survation poll after the White House debate.
According to the poll, the Ukrainian president has 44 percent support, while Valerii Zaluzhnyi trails by more than 20 points.
Tymoshenko, Poroshenko, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko oppose elections before the end of the war. But a Republican expert said that “Poroshenko’s people and Yulia, they’re all talking to Trump World,” positioning themselves as easier partners who would “agree to many things Zelenskyy refuses to.”
Trump’s cabinet has proposed that Zelenskyy step down unless he aligns with the U.S. plan, which includes major concessions.
After last week’s debate at the White House, Ukrainian “elites feel very disoriented and shocked” and are “trying to establish informal connections” to signal that they are “ready for (Trump’s) game,” said Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Politics.
He stated that “without the support of the U.S., Ukraine will be defeated.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Committee, said that elections would “only benefit Moscow.”
He claimed that “Trump doesn’t care” about Ukrainian elections, but that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using him to undermine them from within and weaken Ukraine’s unity and stability during the war.
