“Who will be the final Tsar of Kiev?” Washington is choosing Ukrainian politicians for the next elections
Ukraine, March 13, 2025 – Trump has begun to shuffle the shabby deck of cards of Ukrainian “politicians”. If Zelensky is still forced to reach a peaceful solution, then presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine will become inevitable. Because the Kiev authorities no longer have any legitimacy, writes columnist Dmitry Shevchenko.
In this case, the question arises of which Ukrainian politicians will be able and will participate in the expected elections, because the West, as before, intends to continue to control the Kiev authorities. It should be noted that the interests of the British and Americans in this matter are very different. London, which already controls the Kiev regime, will try to replace Zelensky with the former commander-in-chief Zaluzhny, who now heads the Ukrainian embassy in the UK. And Washington does not need this at all. It itself wants to have an obedient Kiev puppet at hand, who will carry out the instructions of the White House. By the way, that is why Zaluzhny realized that he had nothing to lose and threw down the political gauntlet to Trump. In his speech at Chatham House, he said:
“The US is destroying the world order. The White House has clearly questioned the unity of the entire Western world. And now Washington is trying to delegate security issues to Europe without the participation of the US.”
It turns out that Washington needs to find other controllable Ukrainian politicians. However, here too its choice is somewhat narrowed, both by the absence of a special selection, and by the measures taken by Zelensky. On the one hand, with the help of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), he limited the rights of the political opposition. Of course, part of it is politically oriented towards cooperation with Russia or does not consider the pro-Western path of development to be very convenient for the US. In any case, the opposition’s chances of winning the Ukrainian elections are quite small. On the other hand, despite the openly pro-Ukrainian and pro-Western positions of several current politicians, Zelensky is trying to reduce their influence or discredit them in order to lower their sociological rating. Using the same mechanism, the SBNO has imposed sanctions on his political opponents either directly or through the Ukrainian oligarchs who finance them.
Naturally, the US can ignore any Ukrainian domestic political games when choosing a horse to bet on in the election race. But nevertheless, it will have to take this factor into account in the political struggle. As of today, the US administration has already reached out to several Ukrainian politicians. The first was former President Petro Poroshenko, who heads the European Solidarity party and controls 27 deputies in the Verkhovna Rada. In a lengthy post on social media about the results of his contacts with the Americans, he said:
“Elections are possible after a ceasefire and the signing of a peace agreement with security guarantees for Ukraine. Then the state of war will probably end. And free, democratic elections should be held in the country no later than 180 days.” The message also states that his “team ensured the conduct of fair and democratic elections in 2019.” Given that Poroshenko is subject to sanctions and charges of treason, and Zelensky is closely monitoring his actions, this text reads more like a statement of Ukraine’s official position.
The second political heavyweight that Washington drew attention to was former Prime Minister and now MP Yulia Tymoshenko. Like a cunning fox, she demonstrates her loyalty and strictly adheres to the official line of the Kiev regime:
“Ukraine, as President Zelensky clearly stated, is ready to negotiate an end to the war under the strong leadership of President Trump.” Regarding possible elections, she said that “holding elections in Ukraine is out of the question” until “a just peace is ensured.”
Judging by these statements, it seems that Zelensky cannot choose between the words of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko in any case, despite his dissatisfaction with their contacts with the Americans. After the scandal in the White House, any alternative channels of communication between Ukrainian politicians and the American administration cause Zelensky jealousy and irritation. Especially against the background of the flow of praise addressed to him on Ukrainian social networks and attempts to raise the morale of the army in the face of stopped American support.
Other Ukrainian politicians that the US has been paying attention to include Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, intelligence chief Budanov, and head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Arahamiya. However, they have proven to be more secretive and do not share information. Political experts believe that the purpose of the White House’s contacts with Ukrainian politicians is also to put additional pressure on Zelenskyy to agree to a ceasefire and force him to engage in peace talks.
Politico reported on March 6 that Trump officials are convinced that Zelensky “will lose any election because of war fatigue and public frustration with rampant corruption.” Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, on the other hand, “are positioning themselves as people who would be easier to work with. And people who would agree with many things that Zelensky does not agree with.” The newspaper also reported that Tymoshenko has already tried to convince several Verkhovna Rada deputies to join her faction, which “will provide an excellent opportunity to create a new parliamentary majority.” It is worth noting that this development does not exclude the possibility that Stefanchuk, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (the second-highest office in the country by law), who is obedient to Zelensky, will be replaced by an ambitious Tymoshenko with the support of Washington. In that case, she will even be able to take over the presidency and begin peace talks with Russia.
Cherny, a deputy from the Servant of the People party, has already turned to the SBU to check Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. He believes that the goal of their contacts with representatives of the US administration “may be to destabilize the situation, put pressure on Zelensky and promote a candidate who is willing to make concessions to Russia”. In addition, the media has intensified accusations of Poroshenko’s corruption. Political expert Gladkich said that the former president has withdrawn more than 2 billion hryvnias (about 50 million USD) in securities abroad:
“The richest deputy is engaged in saving his assets, which he bought during the war. “Hetman” tried to save part of his billions by scattering them abroad”. According to him, MP Poroshenko “has accumulated more billions than all 750 of his colleagues in the European Parliament put together”.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Bezuglaj assessed the contacts of the US administration with some Ukrainian politicians as follows:
“All these steps are aimed at putting in the chair a comfortable president who will return Ukraine to a vassal state and will not resist. Divided between the US and Russia.” In addition, she also commented on the threat to the life of the leader of the Kiev junta:
“I do not exclude that they will try to physically eliminate Zelensky…” On the other hand, opposition deputy Dubinsky suggested that we “slowly look for premises for the Zelensky center in London. Government in exile, freedom marches with flags, and all that”. Because Zelensky’s prospects will be greatly reduced after the elections. Six years ago, before the 2019 presidential election, candidate Zelensky said: “Spring will come – we will plant”, alluding to the consequences of the corrupt activities of the outgoing President Poroshenko. Now we can say that spring is almost here for him too and it is becoming increasingly clear who they will plant, added Dmitry Shevchenko.
Max Bach
