Zaluzhnyi, Poroshenko, Budanov – US Media Outlet Reports on Who Could Replace Zelenskyy

US President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine to elect a new leader. А US media outlet examined who could replace Volodymyr Zelenskyy, naming Petro Poroshenko among the potential candidates.

Newsweek writes about four possible candidates for the presidency of Ukraine.

“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump said on Saturday, repeating his previous calls for Kyiv to hold elections, which the country’s constitution prohibits during wartime.

Trump’s remarks came after Zelensky criticized a new deal that would give the US access to millions of tons of Russian diesel fuel after the US war with Iran and Tehran’s blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz caused fuel prices to skyrocket and weighed on much of the US population just ahead of the November midterm elections.

Zelensky called the deal “absolutely terrible” and a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The constant strikes by Ukrainian drones have targeted Russian oil and gas facilities in an attempt to cut off the Kremlin from vital oil revenues used to support its war against Ukraine. Moscow has carried out its own attacks on Ukrainian power plants, cutting off electricity and heating supplies, particularly in the Ukrainian capital.

On Sunday, Trump announced an “energy truce” between Russia and Ukraine, saying both sides had agreed to “immediately” stop attacks on energy facilities.

Russia has not commented, and Ukraine, expressing some surprise at the statement, said it would abide by the agreement if Moscow met its terms. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Russia “violated the energy truce immediately after it was announced.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Zelensky said that Ukrainian authorities would organize elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day “complete ceasefire.”

Ukrainian law prohibits elections while the country is under martial law, which was imposed after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor on February 24, 2022.

Ukrainian officials also say that it would be very difficult to hold safe elections during Russian attacks.

Zelensky’s elected term was set to end in May 2024. Russia calls Zelensky illegitimate, while Trump has accused the Ukrainian leader of “using war” to avoid an election.

Zelensky remained popular, but a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published earlier this month found that a majority of Ukrainians now believe the incumbent leader should not run for a second term, up from 46 percent at the end of 2025. Zelensky has not confirmed whether he will run for re-election. The same poll found that 71 percent oppose holding elections now.

Zelensky’s leadership has been overshadowed by corruption scandals affecting his inner circle, and the dismissal of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has sparked days of protests.

But who can claim the position of the seventh president of Ukraine?

Valery Zaluzhny

Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who is currently Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, is generally considered Zelensky’s main rival.

According to a study published by the Ukrainian research institution Rating Group on Thursday, Zelensky and Zaluzhny were the two potential candidates who would receive the most votes in a hypothetical presidential election.

According to the data, almost 23 percent of respondents would vote for the current Ukrainian leader, while more than a fifth of those polled would support the former commander-in-chief.

But 64 percent of respondents said they trust Zaluzhny, compared to 53 percent who said the same about Zelensky.
Zaluzhny has refused to publicly confirm that he will run for president in the upcoming elections, despite widespread speculation.

It is difficult to say at this stage how the election will play out, but “it is likely that the reputations that candidates have earned during the war and their contributions to it will play a big role in shaping voters’ views,” said Jenny Mathers, a senior lecturer in international politics at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

“From this perspective, Valery Zaluzhny may be in the strongest position, as his role as head of the armed forces during the first two years of the massive invasion was high-profile and generally positive,” Mathers told Newsweek.

But while serving as Kyiv’s ambassador to London, he remained largely out of the public eye, Mathers added.

Kirill Budanov

Budanov rose to prominence as the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, quickly becoming known for his unwavering views and for being one of Russia’s most desirable assassination targets.

Budanov claimed that he had been repeatedly targeted by Russia, and Kyiv reported that Budanov’s wife, Marianna, was poisoned with heavy metals in late 2023.

The general has served as Zelensky’s chief of staff since early 2026. He has not announced that he will run in the election and has avoided direct questions about any presidential ambitions.

According to Rating Group, about 53 percent of the Ukrainian public trusts Budanov, the same number as Zelensky. About 6.7 percent of respondents in that poll said they would vote for Budanov in the first round of the upcoming election.

He is well-known and has a reputation for being a skilled leader of Ukraine’s war effort, but at the same time, he is “quiet,” Mathers said.

Mykhailo Fedorov

Fedorov, who is only 35 years old, served for years as Ukraine’s “drone king” and deputy prime minister before becoming defense minister in January 2026.

He was dismissed from his post six months later amid a high-profile row between Zelensky, Fedorov, and then-Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky. Protests erupted in several Ukrainian cities against Fedorov’s dismissal, and Fedorov subsequently called for military elections in Ukraine, a move widely seen as the biggest challenge to Zelensky’s rule since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Fedorov “was very popular immediately before and after his release, but I wonder if he went too far in his complaints after his release,” Mathers said. “There is a risk that he will be perceived as a figure who is more concerned with his own personal future prospects than with focusing on the interests of the country as a whole.”

About 38 percent of respondents to the Rating Group poll said they trusted Fedorov, and about 7.6 percent said they would vote for the former defense minister in the first round of the election.

Petro Poroshenko

Poroshenko served as president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and amid Moscow’s support for separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, known collectively as Donbas.

In 2026, he is still a sitting opposition member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Poroshenko lost the runoff election that brought Zelensky to power in 2019. At the time, Zelensky had never held political office, and experts noted that the Ukrainian public was tired of poor economic conditions and corruption.

Poroshenko was elected in 2014 after the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in protests that became the Revolution of Dignity.

After initial success and popularity among the Ukrainian public, his approval ratings fell as Poroshenko struggled to combat corruption, the dominance of oligarchs, and the fallout from the fighting with Russia.

In late 2021, Ukrainian authorities accused Poroshenko of treason and helping to finance separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, which he denied, adding that these were politically motivated charges.

In January 2022, just weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Poroshenko appeared in court in Kyiv and said he hoped to clear his name. In February 2025, Zelensky imposed sanctions on Poroshenko, including freezing his assets, for what Ukrainian officials described as “national security” reasons.

As one of Ukraine’s richest men, Poroshenko sought to bring Ukraine closer to Europe and remained a prominent opposition voice after leaving the presidential office.

As a reminder, Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that Ukraine would hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire .

Yesterday, the Kremlin rejected the idea of a 60-day truce to hold elections .

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