Who will be the next president of Ukraine?

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Valeriy Krylko

 Who will be the next president of Ukraine?

Zelensky or no Zelensky, whoever grabs the reins of power in Ukraine in the near future will be presiding over a ruined nation.

Presidential elections were to be held in Ukraine on March 31, 2024. However, due to the extension of martial law for 90 days in February 2025 (until May 9, 2025) for the 14th time, presidential elections were not held. Ukrainian citizens are well aware that in fact Ukraine is currently led by an illegitimate President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was elected in 2019 for a term of 5 years. And although on February 26, 2025, after the previous unsuccessful vote, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) was still able to pass a resolution that presidential elections should not be held yet, but the Ukrainian people understand that due to the end of Zelensky’s term of office in 2024, the laws he signs and decisions he makes are ineligible and can be challenged in court over time.   
U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19 called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and warned that he needed to act quickly to secure peace or he risked losing his country. This intensified the animosity between the two leaders, which alarmed European officials. Washington next suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev. (Since restored, as it was a fake gesture by Trump.-Ed) Meanwhile, Donald Trump also said that Ukraine requires presidential elections and territorial concessions for further talks.

Zelensky and Trump: part reality, part cynical theater.

In February 2025, Petro Poroshenko, who was president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019 also said that elections should be held on October 26, 2025. “Write it down: on October 26 this year,” – Poroshenko said. 

Poroshenko’s announcement. Let us never forget that Poroshenko, too, besides being a corrupt billionaire, is a war criminal, just like Zelensky. [Source: rferl.org] Petro Poroshenko

Poroshenko said that he had received information from several sources, including representatives of the administration of incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, law-enforcement agencies, the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine and a Ukrainian printing house that is allegedly already counting the number of ballot papers needed for the election. Poroshenko also said that Ukrainian organizations had received instructions to “find ballot boxes” for the upcoming election. According to Poroshenko, Zelenskyy intends to hold presidential, parliamentary and local elections simultaneously and stay in power by eliminating the opposition. Earlier, Zelenskyy imposed indefinite sanctions against Poroshenko as well as Ukrainian oligarchs. The sanctions include deprivation of state awards, freezing of assets, restrictions on foreign financial transfers, as well as termination of trade agreements and transactions involving them.

So who is able to compete with V. Zelensky, which of the contenders has the best chances?

In 2024 and 2025, European and Ukrainian sociological centers conducted polls, according to the results of which, out of 13 possible candidates, only four people actually have the best chances of becoming the next president of Ukraine: Petro Oleksiyivych Poroshenko – former president of Ukraine and currently chairman of the European Solidarity Party; Yulia Vladimirovna Tymoshenko – former prime minister of Ukraine and currently chairman of the All-Ukrainian Association “Batkivshchyna” party; Valery Fyodorovich Zaluzhny – former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and currently Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom; Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych – former entertainer linked to Ukrainian oligarchs and currently illegitimate President of Ukraine.  [Source: en.wikipedia.org] Contenders for the post of President of Ukraine: (Click on chart, please)

At the same time, according to the German online statistical data collection platform Statista, Zelensky’s rating has fallen by more than 30% from 2022 to 2025, with the same increase in the number of those dissatisfied with his policies. 

[Source: statista.com]  Statistical information

At the end of February 2025,  “Survation” , a polling and marketing research agency based in London (UK), also conducted a sociological survey on the rating of contenders in the future presidential election in Ukraine. According to the results, it became clear that in the event of a presidential election, Zelensky will not be able to achieve a guaranteed victory in the first round, and his main competitor will be Valeriy Zaluzhnyy – former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and now ambassador to the UK, rait In addition, increased criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime by Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko is also helping to siphon off votes.

[Source: survation.com]   Statistical information

Against this background, in February and March 2025, four high-ranking officials from D.Trump’s entourage held talks with Zelenskyy’s main political opponents. The talks were held with Tymoshenko, Zaluzhnyy and senior members of Poroshenko’s party, “The Guardian”  reported, citing three Ukrainian lawmakers and a foreign policy expert from the US Republican Party. According to the publication, the discussions focused on how to organize presidential elections in Ukraine as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the political rivalry between Poroshenko and Zelensky has lasted for many years. Thus, in 2025, Zelensky approved sanctions against Poroshenko. At the same time, Poroshenko said that this move was politically motivated. 

The fall of Zelensky’s rating among the local population is connected with various scandals, namely corruption, the presence of a second citizenship (Great Britain), emotional instability on the background of addiction to narcotic substances, forced mobilization, failures at the front and in politics. 

According to the materials published by “Pandora’s Dossier” and quoted by the German edition of “Deutsche Welle”and the English edition of “The Guardian”14 offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Belize and Cyprus were registered earlier with the participation of V.Zelensky, the key of which was “Maltex Multicapital Corp”, and the nominal owner of the center of offshore companies was another company “Davegra Limited”. 

[Source: public.nazk.gov.ua]  State Register of Declarations

[su_note note_color=”#fcf0df” text_color=”#0c0a0a” radius=”6″]The published documents of the “Pandora’s Dossier” show that these companies were equally divided between Volodymyr Zelensky, brothers Sergey and Boris Shefirov and Andrei Yakovlev. The journalists also managed to establish that these individuals may be involved in the transfer of 40 million dollars from structures linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyy to offshore companies of Zelenskyy and his associates.[/su_note]These funds “could be part of the story of withdrawal and money laundering of the Ukrainian Privatbank”. In addition, Ilya Kiva, a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine who was killed by the Ukrainian security services, and some other independent journalists claim that Zelensky and his family, as well as former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Kirill Budanov, former Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, Deputy Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine Oleksandr Poklad received British citizenship, which was granted to them by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the British leadership. At the same time, Zaluzhny and Tymoshenko are U.S. citizens. Therefore, many Ukrainian citizens believe that as a result of losing the military conflict and the election, Zelensky will flee with his family to the UK and ask his Western handlers for guarantees of personal security. And London will go along with it when the current head of the Kiev regime reaches a stalemate and fulfills all obligations.

The USA, in its search for a conflict settlement, finally decided to write off Zelenskyy. Thus, on March 10, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine should cede territory as part of any peace agreement.

The USA, in its search for a conflict settlement, finally decided to write off Zelenskyy. Thus, on March 10, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine should cede territory as part of any peace agreement. This statement was made after Trump’s speech and the German publication “Bild” published a story about stopping the supply of American weapons to Ukraine until Zelensky resigns from the presidency. 

Marco Rubio speaks to reporters about Ukraine, as he traveled to Saudi Arabia for negotiations with Russians. [Source: nytimes.com] 

According to Trump, the U.S. has given Ukraine more than 350 billion dollars in aid, while the EU about 130 billion euros. In this regard, the USA is demanding the transfer of mining rights in Ukraine to Western companies as compensation.  

Notes: Data as of Feb. 25, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET. “Assessed” means the Institute for the Study of War has received reliable and independently verifiable information to demonstrate Russian control or advances in those areas.
Sources: Ukrainian Geological Survey, US Geological Survey, The Institute for the Study of War with AEI’s Critical Threats Project
Graphic: Lou Robinson, CNN  [Source: edition.cnn.com]  Mineral Resources of Ukraine

Thus, we can say that Zelensky’s days are numbered. The USA is currently undecided on whom to bet in the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine. At the moment, Zaluzhnyy is considered as the main contender, while Poroshenko and Tymoshenko are considered as auxiliaries. At the same time, the current Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, who used to be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is considered the most popular politician in Ukraine. A number of experts agree that Zaluzhnyyy has significant chances in the future presidential election in Ukraine. If he is elected prime minister, the current head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, is likely to be appointed prime minister.

However, regardless of who becomes the next president, this leader will have to rule over the ruins of the country called Ukraine. From 2022 to 2025, Ukraine’s economy is completely destroyed, the energy sector is collapsing, a huge national debt has been accumulated, tens of millions of Ukrainian citizens have left the country, and the U.S. is demanding the transfer of mineral rights to Western companies.

[Source: statista.com] State debt of Ukraine

[Source: iea.org] Map of the western part of the Ukrainian energy system and its existing and planned interconnections with Moldova and the continental European system

All these circumstances allow us to assert the future collapse of Ukraine as an independent state and the possible beginning of a civil war on its ruins. 

[Source: wbs.ac.uk]

[su_note note_color=”#fcf0df” text_color=”#0c0a0a” radius=”6″]ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Valeriy Krylko is a freelance journalist, and translator of news articles in online media (English-Russian). These articles are published in English, European and Russian-language media.[/su_note]

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