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Trump Demands Early Presidential Vote In Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump demands that war-torn Ukraine hold elections soon as part of a peace deal with Russia amid questions over the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine,” Trump said Tuesday.

He added that the “leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4 percent approval rating,” most of the country has been “blown to smithereens.”

While opinion polls did not confirm Trump’s assessment, they underscored that Zelenskyy might face a formidable opponent: Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, whom the president dismissed following a public fallout.

Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, would receive 27 percent of the vote, followed by only 16 percent for Zelenskyy, according to the polls.

“And yeah, I would say that, you know, when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to — wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, like, you know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” Trump continued.

“That’s not a Russian thing; that’s something coming from me and many other countries.”

BROADER CONCERN

He spoke amid concerns about a reported crackdown on opposition parties and individuals critical of Zelenskyy.

Spanish Communist European legislator Manu Pineda wrote to the European Union’s executive European Commission that “Various human rights organizations have condemned the increasing political persecution taking place in Ukraine.”

In addition to “Zelenskyy’s government outlawing all opposition parties, the criminalization and persecution of citizens on ideological grounds is also intensifying,” he claimed “In early January 2023” after being arrested by Ukraine’s security service SBU and accused of possessing publications from the pro-Russia Yanukovych presidency and outlawed Ukrainian political parties, “a 61-year-old man from Kharkiv was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and a further ten years administrative disqualification,” he added.

Under “sweeping and baseless accusations of performing acts of ‘espionage’ for Russia, or being ‘agitators’ or ‘snoopers’, the undermining of basic freedoms and legal safeguards is worsening, intensifying alongside the lynchings and murders taking place in Ukraine,” the politician complained.

Kyiv has not confirmed the arrest, but last week, Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against the official leader of the opposition, ex-President Petro Poroshenko.

The country’s Security Service said “high treason” committed a decade ago was the main reason for sanctions imposed on the ex-president. However, the moves “have been seen as a political rather than a security decision,” commented The Kyiv Independent newspaper.

Experts say elections could be held by the end of the year following growing political activities inside the country and Trump’s pressure on Kyiv.

ELECTION SEASON?

Commentators believe that “the informal election season” has already begun in Ukraine.

“If martial law had not been imposed, the next presidential election would have been held in the spring of 2024, and Zelensky’s term would have ended on May 20,” argued The Kyiv Independent.

Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special Ukraine peace envoy, said on February 1 that presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine “need to be done” by the end of 2025.

“You’re gonna reach a point where they’re gonna have to have elections, and that’s a sign of a healthy democracy,” he stressed.

Those sentiments have been echoed by critics in the U.S. and the Kremlin, who said that “no peace deal is possible” with Zelensky since his term “expired.”

Yet with millions of people being displaced in and outside the country that may be easier said than done, Worthy News noticed.