Zelensky moves away from ceding territories and challenges Trump’s call to hold elections in Ukraine: “I am always ready”

Meloni has always been an active part of the pro-Ukrainian European front, acting as a mediator thanks to her political affinity with the president Donald Trumpespecially on immigration issues.

In the air, the conclusions of the national security document that the White House published in the early hours of Thursday to Friday and Trump’s own statements to Politico this same Monday, in which he assured that Russia had everything to win, that Europe would sooner or later surrender to that evidence and stop supporting Ukraine, and that Zelensky had to get used to the idea that the only solution was to accept a cession of territories and call elections as soon as possible.

Trump insisted that Zelensky “had not even read the agreement” that Jared Kushner y Steve Witkoff they finished profiling in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin and his entourage and that they introduced the Ukrainian leader by telephone with the intention that he would accept it at the time.

In addition, he suggested that he was using the war as an excuse to end democracy in his country and blamed his enmity with Putin – “or the first thing he did was ask him to give him back Crimea and to accept Ukraine joining NATO… and he didn’t do it in a good way,” Trump said – for the prolongation of the conflict.

Regarding it, Trump insisted point by point on the doctrine of the Kremlin and its propagandists that Russian victory was inevitable and that in the end the difference in size between the two countries would prevail.

These are arguments more typical of February 2022 than December 2025 and only indicate the convinced alignment of the MAGA movement with the pro-Russian theses. Trump keeps repeating that, with him in the White House, the war would not have happened, but the only thing that seems clear is that, if he had been in Washington, he would have forced Ukraine to surrender immediately.

Elections in 60-90 days

Despite the barrage of personal criticism, Zelensky prefers to remain calm. It must not be easy to hear all the time that you are guilty of defending your country while for your enemy and aggressor there is never a bad word. On the contrary. It is even appreciated that he “gives in” on certain things and does not seek a humiliating victory on the ground. Victory that, no matter how much Trump, Putin and their spokespersons insist, is nowhere to be seen.

To claims that Ukraine was losing the war, Zelensky chose not to answer. Faced with pressure to accept the peace plan dreamed of by the Kremlin – and which it is very likely that, once accepted, the Kremlin itself would reject to gain time – he indicated that he was preparing, together with his European partners, a joint response that they could present to Washington.

In short, the optimism announced by the Trump Administration that the conflict was entering “its last days” seems nothing more than magical thinking, like the eight wars that Trump claims to have ended.

Finally, faced with accusations of not wanting to call elections, one of Putin’s arguments to delegitimize Ukrainian democracy as a whole, Zelensky declared that he was “always ready” to go to the polls.

The problem is purely legal. The president cannot call elections even if he wants to, since the Constitution prohibits him from doing so while the state of emergency remains declared. Besides, thinking about free elections when the Russians occupy part of four regions and insistently bombard as many others seems absurd.

Even so, Zelensky promised to send the proposal to Parliament, try to pass the necessary legislation and prepare everything for a presidential election within 60-90 days.

Of course, Russia will be more than attentive to the process to see how it can influence it and how it can ensure that a candidate more sympathetic to its cause ends up winning or at least sowing in the public debate the seeds of discord and the need for an immediate surrender on the terms that Trump and Putin decide.

The drift to authoritarianism

Because what is clear is that the objective is to get the actor involved in politics out of the way. A smear campaign to accuse him of everything that is happening, including a possible Third World War, in the words of Trump himself.

At a time when the figure of the president is more questioned than ever due to the corruption scandals in his immediate environment, it is logical that the pressure of Russian propaganda tightens more than ever.

Why is Trump joining this pressure? Firstly, because he wants to score the same and understands that the straightest path is coercion of the weak. Secondly, because not only does he like Putin, but deep down, Russia is an example for him both in political terms – for its authoritarianism – and for its values ​​– hence the ruthless criticism of open European societies.

Finally, it must be taken into account that Trump cannot stand Zelensky and has not done so since his first term, when he already tried to pressure him to give him information about the businesses of Hunter Bidensomething that earned him his first impeachment.

If it were up to Trump, Vance and company, the United States would freeze its relations with Ukraine and the European Union and would leave NATO. The only hope is to think that not everyone in the Republican Party—and that includes congressmen and senators—thinks the same as them.

Both among GOP voters and leaders, the majority remain those who understand that Europe is an essential ally and that supporting Putin is betraying the essence of the values ​​that the United States has always defended.

It is time for them to say something about it because the drift is more than worrying. The retired general John KellyNational Security Advisor during Trump’s first term, urged the president this Tuesday in X to leave NATO, break ties with Europe and impose in the United States something that looks very similar to totalitarianism. They are completely excessive messages, based mostly on false or exaggerated data and that only seek to break eighty years of liberal growth in the West. We’ll see if they get it.