Secret negotiations between Trump’s close associates and Zelensky’s opponents.
According to Rossiya Today, Politico revealed on Thursday that senior members of US President Donald Trump’s team have held secret talks with a number of political opponents of Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine.
The American publication, citing three Ukrainian lawmakers and a US foreign policy expert from the Republican Party, wrote that the talks focused on the possibility of holding presidential elections in Ukraine soon, with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and senior officials from former President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party.
According to Politico, the Trump team seems confident that Zelensky will lose any election due to Ukrainians’ fatigue with war and public frustration with widespread corruption in the country.
Zelensky’s term as president ended last May, but the election was not held due to the martial law imposed in Ukraine, which prevents elections from being held in accordance with the country’s constitution.