Zelenskyy foes met with Trump camp, oppose wartime election: Report

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian political rivals, including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and aides of Petro Poroshenko, met with Trump administration officials. The two groups reportedly discussed the feasibility of holding elections during martial law.

• Ukraine’s constitution suspends elections during martial law, and Poroshenko later stated his opposition to holding elections amid wartime, citing concerns over political persecution and misuse of resources.

• President Trump ended talks with Zelenskyy Feb. 28, urging him to return when “ready for peace,” while Tymoshenko expressed readiness to negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s political rivals met with four top Trump administration associates to discuss holding a wartime election. However, the Ukrainian camp later said they oppose the move.

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and aides of Petro Poroshenko, who preceded Zelenskyy as president, met with four “senior members of Trump’s entourage.” That’s according to three Ukrainian parliamentarians and a U.S. Republican foreign policy expert who were granted anonymity by Politico. 

Discussions reportedly centered around how quickly the battle-torn country could hold elections. Ukraine’s constitution suspends elections during martial law –– an election with Russian soldiers occupying portions of the country and potential voters living abroad as refugees could pose challenges. 

President Donald Trump cut short his talks with Zelenskyy on Feb. 28, telling him to return to the White House when he’s “ready for peace” following a tense exchange in the Oval Office. 

Poroshenko acknowledged the talks on Thursday, March 6, adding that he opposed holding an election amid wartime. 

“Our team has always been and is adamant against elections during a war,” he said in a translated post to Facebook. “Unlike the government which tries to buy voters’ votes by taking money from the army and eliminates political opponents with unconstitutional and extrajudicial sanctions which is politically motivated persecution and election preparation scenario.”

Tymoshenko said in a separate post that Ukraine was ready to negotiate and bring an end to the conflict with Russia.