Trump’s secret meetings with Ukrainian opposition politicians: What's wrong with Politico's cover story?

The high-profile Politico article proves that one should not blindly trust everything Western media write about Ukraine, as there are both useful idiots and people who do not fully understand the realities of internal politics.

You may like Yulia Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko or not, but they are parliamentary faction leaders and official opposition figures, so people will meet with them and ask for their opinions. Similar meetings regarding purely technical election formats during wartime were previously regular, as Ukraine has held several election campaigns in 11 years of war. Calling these formats "secret" could only come from someone out of the loop. Previously, when the Rada TV channel broadcasted parliamentary sessions instead of friendly circus acts, at least one such meeting with all factions took place.

Moreover, from my own sources, I know that Western partners began asking election-related NGOs about electoral legislation and observers as early as the end of 2023. And no, not because they want to take power from Volodymyr Zelenskyy or anyone else. They provide funding and are interested in the technical conditions for holding elections — how refugees will vote, whether it is even possible to hold elections somewhere in Kherson, and how to ensure the voting rights of soldiers or refugees in remote Bavarian villages.

Any election is, first and foremost, a meticulous preparation, while election day is the result of the format approved by the parliament. When the time comes, Zelenskyy’s political party, Poroshenko's party, and Tymoshenko's party will vote on all the changes to the electoral process.

Moreover, given the competence of the new faces who entered the parliament en masse, these two actually have a better understanding of how to adjust districts and absentee ballots.

The Politico article was clearly written to spark internal squabbles and generate a flood of idiotic comments like "this old guard won’t pass." I'll smile like the Cheshire Cat — both Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko will definitely have factions in the next term. I'd say it's the young parties that will need to skillfully clear the electoral threshold and not fall apart by the third day.

Politico published a poll from an obscure firm claiming that the leader of Ukrainians' sympathies is Zelenskyy, with Zaluzhnyi trailing by 20%. However, real sociological data, which has been plentiful, says the opposite.

What intrigued me further was the sample used for this strange poll. I visited the firm's website, and they claimed to "rely on data from the 2020 population census." However, the last real census was in 2001. The 2020 population count by Dubilet was criticized by experts as it lacked a social relations profile and an understanding of how active the population is.

So, what kind of fabricated census is being loudly discussed by the authors?

The article itself mentions conversations with Tymoshenko and Poroshenko’s parties. "The discussions centered on whether Ukraine could hold quick presidential elections."

The article continues with the idea that "these are being delayed in line with the country’s constitution because Ukraine remains under martial law. 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."

An additional point — the main political analyst on the subject was the controversial political scientist Ruslan Bortnik, associated with Viktor Medvedchuk, who for years has been spreading pro-Russian narratives on TV channels.

I’ll add that, despite some political forces already generously planting party newspapers along the borders of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, it’s all a false start. There will be no elections in May, as previously mentioned on Facebook. If the U.S. does manage to pressure Russia and Ukraine into a ceasefire by spring, elections could happen in October. However, experts say a more realistic timeline is the spring of next year.

All these dates could shift, as there are no serious signs of a ceasefire. Even Donald Trump's team understands that this won’t end quickly, and they want to quiet this conflict to focus on their favorite issue — confronting China.

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About the author. Maryna Danyliuk-Yarmolaieva, journalist.

The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog or column authors.