(Updated: )
U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19 launched an astonishing attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a "dictator" with a "very low" approval rating that refuses to hold elections in Ukraine.
The comments came a day after similar remarks made at the White House, in which Trump falsely claimed Zelensky had a "4% approval rating," and suggested Ukraine should hold elections despite Russia's ongoing war in the country.
Speaking a few hours after U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Trump also falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war, and said Moscow wants "to do something" to "stop the savage barbarianism."
The talks in Saudi Arabia were conducted without Ukraine, prompting Zelensky to reiterate on Feb. 18 that "you can't make a decision on how to end the war in Ukraine without Ukraine."
"They want a seat at the table, but you could say ... wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say," Trump said on Feb. 18, adding: "It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election."
"That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries," he insisted.
Who else is telling Ukraine to hold elections?
Russia does.
In comments made while the talks in Saudi Arabia were underway, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia's President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks with Zelensky, but "legal aspects related to his legitimacy" must be considered.
It's far from the first time that Moscow officials have questioned the legitimacy of Zelensky, which has been a line of attack for almost a year now.
The false claim is based on the premise that Zelensky's first term in office was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024.
But Russia's full-scale invasion and the subsequent declaration of martial law in Ukraine has meant elections have been impossible to hold and his term has been extended, something constitutional lawyers say is allowed under Ukrainian law.
Russia has widely repeated the claim in an attempt to discredit the Ukrainian government, but what's different this time around is the U.S. President appears happy to go along with it.
Martin Fornusek
How popular is Zelensky?
According to Trump, there's something akin to a constitutional crisis in Ukraine right now, with the country being run by a hugely unpopular "dictator."
"We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine — I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating," he said on Feb. 18.
Trump's comments contain two notable inaccuracies.
Firstly, it's not clear where Trump got his information about Zelensky's "4% approval rating," a wildly inaccurate figure.
A survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on Feb. 19 found around 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky as of February, marking an increase of five percentage points since December.
The poll was carried out on Feb. 4-9, according to the pollster, but was published on the day after Trump’s claims.
According to the latest poll from Reuters published Feb. 19, Trump's own approval rating currently stands at 44%.
According to latest poll from the Levada Center, a Russian independent polling organization, Putin's approval in January was 87%, though Russia is a country where standing at an anti-war rally with a blank piece of paper can land one in jail, and has a leader who has been in power for 24 years, longer than many infamous dictators.
Zelensky himself on Feb. 19 did not hold back when he stated where he believed Trump had got the 4% figure from.
"We saw this disinformation. We understand it comes from Russia," he said during a press conference in Kyiv.
Around 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky as of February, marking an increase of five percentage points since December.
Secondly, Ukraine is under actual martial law due to Russia's full-scale invasion. As mentioned above, Ukrainian law requires the suspension of elections which can only be lifted once the war is over.
Crucially, the terms of any peace deal — which the U.S. and Russia are currently discussing without Ukraine — will be essential for creating conditions under which elections can be held.
Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of parliament’s Defense Committee and of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ruling party, said on Feb. 17 that he “does not think martial law can be lifted” on just the basis of a ceasefire without “the threats going away.”
A ceasefire "does not mean that Russia has withdrawn its troops from occupied territories or its means of attack that can strike Ukraine," Venislavskyi said.
"Given Putin’s mental state, I think we can expect any possible developments. Therefore, without guarantees that this will lead to a lasting peace, I do not think martial law can be lifted," he added.
Daria Shulzhenko
What would elections in Ukraine look like?
When Ukraine eventually does hold elections, it is expected to face multiple challenges to make a vote safe, equal, uninterrupted, and provide a secret ballot, as is required by Ukrainian law.
Russia's constant targeting of Ukrainian population centers across the country in bomb, missile and drone attacks, makes providing a "safe" voting experience impossible while the war is ongoing, not to mention the challenge of arranging voting facilities for soldiers serving on the front lines.
Demobilization is possible only after the end of martial law. Olha Aivazovska, head of the election watchdog Opora, said this process should begin at the stage of signing a peace agreement and its ratification.
"Then martial law is lifted and a fully-fledged, democratic, transparent electoral process begins," she told the Kyiv Independent.
If the war ends and martial law is lifted, Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) will announce the start of the election campaign.
According to Ukrainian law, starting from that moment, 90 days should pass before presidential elections are to be held, 54 to 60 days before the parliamentary elections, and 50 days before local elections.
However, preparations for the post-war elections are expected to take even longer due to extraordinary circumstances caused by Russia's full-scale invasion.
According to United Nations (UN) figures, over 6 million Ukrainians left the country as a result of Russia's war and are currently abroad. Another 3.6 million are internally displaced.
With around 18% of Ukraine's territories occupied by Russia, "millions more" remain in the Russian-occupied territories, according to Zelensky.
Another problem is the locations where a vote will be held. Electoral infrastructure, such as schools, has been destroyed in many areas of Ukraine-controlled territory due to Russian attacks.
Aivazovska said that it could take up to a year to restore the electoral infrastructure and adopt a separate law to hold the post-war elections following the ceasefire.
The Kyiv Independent
Who would be the main contenders?
Any list of potential candidates is purely speculative at this stage, but several well-known politicians, military officers, and volunteers could realistically be in the running.
Volodymyr Zelensky
While on the campaign trail, Zelenksy promised to be a one-term president. But when asked during recent interviews whether he is planning to run for another five years in the office, he did not rule out this possibility.
"It depends on how this war ends. Basically, it depends on people first and foremost, and of course on my family," he told American podcaster Lex Friedman last month.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi has never announced the launch of a political career and dodged questions about a possible presidential run.
Yet some experts see him as a potential main opponent to Zelensky. Last February, he topped a Ukrainian poll with a trust rating of 94%, higher than Zelensky.
Appointed commander-in-chief in the summer of 2021, Zaluzhnyi gained popularity among both the military and the broader population due to his role in leading the military resistance against Russia.
He was dismissed in February 2024 following months of speculation about a rift in Ukraine's leadership. Soon after, the president appointed Zaluzhnyi as Ukraine's ambassador to the U.K.
Petro Poroshenko
Poroshenko launched his political career in the 1990s. He was a prominent figure during the two Ukrainian revolutions in 2004 and 2014. He held a number of top positions in Ukraine’s government, including economy minister under former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych's rule.
After Yanukovych's overthrow, Poroshenko was elected Ukraine’s fifth president. He served one term from 2014 until 2019, facing Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Donbas.
Poroshenko pushed for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union and NATO, however, his tenure was marred by corruption scandals.
For years, the ex-president was listed among the wealthiest people in Ukraine owning the Roshen confectionery and a number of other businesses. In 2019, he transferred his business assets to his son Oleksiy Poroshenko.
Zelensky dealt a decisive defeat to Poroshenko in the 2019 election, but the rivalry between the two continued. Shortly before the full-scale invasion, in December 2021, the former president was charged with high treason for what the prosecution said was aiding Russian-controlled militants in the occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast.
This month, Zelensky imposed indefinite sanctions on Poroshenko, freezing all his assets. The charges of treason were cited as one of the official reasons for this move. Poroshenko has denied wrongdoing.
Yulia Tymoshenko
The leader of the Batkivshchyna party is a veteran politician who appears to have started preparing for the elections.
Tymoshenko served twice as Ukraine’s prime minister. In 2011, she was jailed by her main political opponent, Viktor Yanukovych. She was freed three years later after Yanukovych was ousted by the EuroMaidan Revolution.
She has been re-elected to parliament twice since then. Labeled as a populist, Tymoshenko used to oppose such notable steps for Ukraine as land sale reform or the legalization of medical cannabis.
Masha Lavrova
Yuriy Boyko
Boyko, a parliamentary member since 2007 and former deputy prime minister under Yanukovych, has a long history in Moscow-aligned political factions.
His joint political project with Viktor Medvedchuk, a former pro-Russian lawmaker accused of high treason, Opposition Platform — For Life, secured second place in the 2019 parliamentary elections. The party was banned in 2022 soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Boyko advocated for Ukraine's "neutrality and non-alignment" and for granting the Russian language the status of the state language, proposals that echo Putin's ultimatums.
As the all-out war progressed, the politician tried to rebrand himself, but in December 2024 he posted a TikTok video repeating long-standing Russian propaganda points. This was met with public outrage and sparked speculations that he is doing groundwork for the post-war presidential and parliamentary run.
Despite being embroiled in a number of high-profile corruption probes, Boyko was never charged.
Vitali Klitschko
A former world boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko, launched his political career in the 2000s. He was one of the key figures during the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2014 and formed a political project with Poroshenko afterward.
In 2014, Klitschko became mayor of Kyiv and has since been re-elected twice. Despite his popularity abroad, he faces criticism in Ukraine for his handling of the capital. Klitschko has had a long-standing conflict with Zelensky. He claims ongoing pressure from government authorities.
Before the full-scale war, some reports in Ukrainian media alleged that his younger brother Wladimir Klitschko, also a former boxing star, could follow his brother’s footsteps and enter politics. When asked about it in 2021, he neither confirmed nor denied it.
Serhii Prytula
Longtime TV presenter and comedian Serhii Prytula entered politics in 2019, joining the newly created Holos party led by Ukrainian rockstar Sviatoslav Vakarchuk.
Prytula ran for parliament and mayor of Kyiv but failed to succeed. Due to party infighting, he left Holos in 2021. Shortly before Russia began its full-scale war, Prytula announced plans to launch his own party, which failed to materialize.
Now Prytula devotes himself to volunteering and raising funds for the military. Over almost three years of full-scale war, his charity, one of the largest in Ukraine, has raised more than Hr 7 billion ($168 million) for the army, he said.
Kyrylo Budanov
Budanov was appointed as the military intelligence (HUR) head in August 2020, becoming the youngest spy chief in Ukraine’s history.
The spy chief became a household name in Ukraine amid Russia’s war, while his agency is seen as one of the most competent institutions in the country, conducting multiple operations within Russia and the Ukrainian territories.
Such support for the military intelligence and its chief led to speculations about his possible dismissal. Both Budanov and Zelensky denied these rumors.
The spy chief evaded answering questions about a potential political career.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
