US Politics
If Trump forces Zelensky out who could be the next Ukraine president?
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Officials in Donald Trump’s administration have made public demands that Ukraine should change its president.
In private, lobbyists have worked to make the case for soft regime change in Kyiv in meetings with journalists and diplomats across Europe.
They may believe they’re working to “Make America Great Again” but they are nonetheless following a Kremlin playbook to delegitimise Volodymyr Zelensky.
The effort may come to a head if President Zelensky returns to Washington to “make it right” with the US president following the breakdown of relations last week.
The collapse of the bilateral relationship immediately led to the American suspension of military aid to Ukraine and a “pause” in vital intelligence sharing – a massive boost to the Russian war effort at a time when the Kremlin’s forces have been stalling.
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Part of getting Mr Trump back into the pro-Ukrainian camp, some diplomats have speculated, is a demand Mr Zelensky should step down in return for a mineral exploitation deal between the two countries and a release of the weapons and intelligence Ukraine needs to defend itself.
Mr Trump himself has called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” and, like successive Kremlin spokespeople, has repeatedly questioned how Mr Zelensky can claim legitimacy when his term in office has expired.
America will not get a choice about who takes over, but it appears Mr Trump is nevertheless trying to influence the result.
The fact that there are now discussions about whether the US should use military aid to Ukraine as a lever to dislodge its president – the leader of a pro-Western European democracy – shows how far Putin is winning the information war.
But the question for Mr Zelensky’s enemies is if not him, then who?
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Ruslan Stefanchuk – the constitutional replacement
Under Ukraine’s constitution, if Mr Zelensky stood down then the current speaker in the parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, would automatically become acting president.
As Ukraine is under martial law it cannot legally hold elections – which is why Mr Zelensky is serving beyond the term as president, having won 73 per cent of the vote in 2019.
As Mr Zelensky has pointed out – elections cannot be held in a time of war with around 20 per cent of the country under occupation and its infrastructure under daily attack from hundreds of Russian drones and missiles.
“Putin wants to weaken Ukraine from within. Putin also wants to remove Zelensky, maybe even using Trump, because right now Zelensky is a symbol of Ukrainian resistance for the whole world and he will never agree to conditions tantamount to surrender of Ukraine,” said Oleksandr Morezkho, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a member of Mr Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party.
On 25 February, the parliament, known as the Rada, voted unanimously to continue to support Mr Zelensky.
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Valerii Zaluzhnyi – the ambassador to the UK
Valerii Zaluzhnyi is a name being considered by Mr Trump’s supporters as someone to back. He has popularity among the military as a former commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
He is also closely linked to Mr Zelensky’s bitter opponent Petro Poroshenko, a former president who dealt with Mr Trump and who has been put under sanctions and could face prosecution over allegations of corruption. Mr Poroshenko has said that Ukraine is not ready for elections now.
Mr Zaluzhnyi has many supporters in the US and is well known to Nato’s military. But he took the fall for the failed summer offensive by Ukraine in 2023 to recapture lands captured by Russia and was moved aside.
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Vitali Klitschko – mayor of Kyiv
Former world heavyweight champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, now mayor of Kyiv, has been a loud critic of what he has called over-optimistic descriptions of the war from Mr Zelensky.
He is a world-famous name whose sporting prowess and early actions in the defence of Kyiv won him many plaudits. But he is not ranked highly on the list being considered by Trump supporters.
He had accused the Ukrainian leader of abusing martial law to usurp the powers of the capital’s city council. But after American demands for elections in Ukraine he supported the man with whom he has had a long-running feud.
“Political competition [over elections] during a war can destroy the country from the inside,” Kyiv’s mayor said.
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David Arakhamia – the man with two names
David Arakhamia, the Ukrainian parliamentary group leader of Mr Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, has been making a run to become close to Mr Trump’s administration. Also known as David Braun, he appeared in the Rotunda as a guest of honour for the inauguration with sources claiming at the time he was there to represent Mr Zelensky.
But it now seems that his influence was waning in Mr Zelensky’s party and he may have been laying the groundwork for Trump support as a future president.
He is certainly receiving help from a very well-connected pro-Trump lobbying agency in DC but now may be looking more for a kingmaker role.
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Oleksandr Dubinski – the blogger
Another name climbing the Trump team list is Oleksandr Dubinski, an MP, journalist and blogger.
He is a populist politician who has been accused of promoting pro-Russian messages and is awaiting trial for treason. He claims that he was beaten and injured in jail while awaiting trial.
Ironically, he was on the US sanctions list when Joe Biden was president but now could be in favour with the new White House.
He was expelled from Mr Zelensky’s political party in 2021.
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Oleksi Goncharenko – the businessman
Oleksi Goncharenko, who owns language schools as well as being an MP, became a well-known face in the British media and political sphere early on in the war with trips to the UK and Europe to help get support for the war effort.
He is only polling at around 2 per cent and is considered more of a long-term candidate but he certainly will run for president if and when an election happens.
He once ran a crowdfunding effort to buy an artillery piece for the Ukrainian army.
But he clashed with Mr Zelensky when Ukrainian politicians were banned from travelling to conferences abroad.