On February 28, Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski held a long -awaited meeting with US President Donald Trump in an attempt to persuade him to continue the United States’ support for Ukraine. The meeting was not likely what the Ukrainian head of state expected.

Trump and US Vice President JD Vance assembled Zelinski in front of television cameras as he was “unprotected” and refused to embrace their ceasefire with Russia.

It is clear that Zelinski will not return to Washington during Trump’s presidency. It is also clear that the American pressure on Ukraine will rise greatly in the following weeks and months, as Trump presses Kiev to make great concessions to Russia for peace.

Even before the confrontation in the White House, the Trump administration was wondering about the legitimacy of Zelinski and pressure on the presidential elections. However, holding rapid elections with the only purpose of eliminating the job operator can spell the country’s catastrophe.

Before Russia has been widely invaded to Ukraine, The approval assessments of the presidency of Zelinski were Low up to 28 percent and 11 percent for his party. Russia’s extensive invasion of the Ukrainians was sent behind the president and its popularity reached record levels. However, over the past two years, his approval assessments have been a fixed decline. according to Opinion pollsZelinski’s confidence fell from 54 percent in April 2024 to 49 percent in January – not as low as Trump claimed, but far from his 90 percent rating in May 2022.

Multiple factors contributed to the decrease in the popularity of Zelinski, including the outbreak of corruption under its administration and the increasing fatigue of the ongoing war.

The Ukrainian President – who is well aware of his weakness – has made clear that he is uncomfortable with competition. For him, the risks are high because if you lose a re -election offer, he may face a prosecution of corruption or various forms of revenge on his competitors. Opinion polls already show that if the elections are held immediately, it will lose.

A huge competitor to Zelinski has already appeared: Valerie Zaluzni, a four -star general -star general as a great commander of the armed forces in Ukraine until February 2024.

Although Zaluzni was rejected by the president in the wake of the failed Anti -Ukrainian attack in 2023, there was speculation that his popularity in Ukraine may have been a worker. The general was sent abroad to be the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom – a position he still occupies.

To date, Zaluzhnyi has not announced the intention of running, although there are no guarantees that it will not change his opinion. If it remains, other military figures, such as kyrylo budanov, may enter.

Bodanov, the head of intelligence in Ukraine, has 62 percent of public confidence. It has recently disappeared from the public eye after a year of prominent media aspects. Rumors have spread that the Zelinski office intends to remove it, which led to its sudden decline. But it may appear again as soon as the campaign begins.

Boxing hero Oleksandr USyk can become a potential dark horse. In a country where a former comedian has become a president, a victorious athlete does not seem an unlikely competitor. Although he did not provide any public political ambitions, he began to appear in the polls and is currently classified as 60 percent.

Then there is former President Petro Poroshenko, who has low approval categories, but he is still a dangerous competitor to Zelinski. Since 2019, more than 130 criminal cases have been launched against him-including one accusing him of betraying to agree to a coal-equipped scheme from the Russian-occupied Dunpas region.

Poroshenko is an explicit critic of Zelinski and does not hide his political ambitions. He has Travel to the United States He met the Trump team. In February, when he tried to go to the Munich Security Conference, he was not allowed. He is now facing sanctions imposed by the state on “causes of national security”, which include freezing assets.

The penalty message is clear: Poroshenko will be eliminated from the presidential race before it begins. In this context of the perceived political persecution, the other potential competitors did not advance, and they were afraid of running.

There has been increasing concern about Zelinski’s dealings with opposition figures, but so far, no strong public reprimand from his allies has arisen. After the confrontation at the White House, European leaders expressed his support for him. This Zelenskyy gave a temporary boost at home, but it is not clear how long it can carry.

Regardless of bitter political competitions and revenge, the Ukrainian political scene is also characterized by the ongoing divisions within society. The war has intensified feelings and divided the country to the bottom of the center, creating a volatile situation.

Extremists are not limited to impact only between certain parts of the population, but are also enabled as active participants in the war. There is also a part of society that tends to support Russia and does not want the conflict to continue.

If elections from abroad are imposed in this volatile situation, it may prove more catastrophic than Russia’s invasion or the loss of industrial hearts in Ukraine. It is not only the danger that a third of the population will not be able to vote and the legitimacy of the elections may be a question.

The real threat is that voting can ignite a battle for everyone against everyone before one poll is made. A job occupant, who is afraid to lose the re -election and their political competitors who suffer from the restoration of importance, may resort to the exploitation of societal divisions. Military and security agencies can be forced to act, adding to a mixture of explosives.

If the presidential elections are able to seriously attract societies in peace – as we have seen in the United States – they can do much worse in times of war. The accelerating elections in Ukraine serve the political plans of the foreign authority are definitely a recipe for disasters. A vote must be made as soon as there is a permanent ceasefire that allows all Ukrainians to cast their votes without fear of the possibility of polarization and conflict.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editorial island.