Four senior members of Donald Trump’s entourage have held secret discussions with some of Kyiv’s top political opponents to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just as Washington aligns with Moscow in seeking to lever the Ukrainian president out of his job, Politico reported on March 6, citing three Ukrainian lawmakers and an American foreign policy expert.
According to the sources, the senior Trump allies held talks with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a remorselessly ambitious former prime minister, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s immediate predecessor as president
The discussions reportedly centered on whether Ukraine could hold quick presidential elections. These are being delayed in line with the country’s constitution because Ukraine remains under martial law, Politico reports, noting that critics of holding elections say they could be chaotic and play into Russia’s hands, with so many potential voters serving on the front lines or living abroad as refugees.
The Trump aides are reportedly confident that Zelenskyy would lose any vote due to war fatigue and public frustration over rampant corruption.
But while the Trump camp may hope an election will sink Zelenskyy, he is still massively more popular than Tymoshenko and Poroshenko, Politico says, noting that in a poll conducted by British pollster Survation this week after the blow-up at the White House, 44 percent said they would back Zelenskyy for the presidency.
His nearest rival, trailing him by more than 20 percentage points, is Valery Zaluzhny, a former army commander who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain. Only 10 percent backed Poroshenko, who is known as the Chocolate King due to his confectionary empire. Tymoshenko garnered just 5.7 percent support.
Meanwhile, both Tymoshenko and Poroshenko have publicly opposed holding elections before the fighting ends,
When asked about the talks with Trump’s team, Tymoshenko’s spokesperson Natalya Lysova thanked Politico for its interest but said, “We won’t comment on that yet.”
Politico also contacted Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party to ask about talks with Trump’s people to discuss elections. The press office responded: “Our narrative is not to push for elections but to secure free and fair competitive post-war elections in our country.”
Politico also reached out to the four Trump allies said to have participated in the secret talks, but they did not respond.
