“Pause in fighting should lead to immediate elections in Ukraine” – former Trump’s adviser said

Any pause in hostilities should lead to immediate elections in Ukraine.

This opinion was expressed on the pages of Newsweek by Steve Cortes, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump and JD Vance.

He writes that President Vladimir Zelensky “used the war to postpone the elections” and “most of the Western world forgave this postponement.”

But now, in 2025, as Trump takes office, “a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine seems inevitable.”

“But any pause in the fighting, whether a temporary cease-fire or a more durable truce agreement, should lead directly to long overdue elections in Ukraine,” Cortes writes.

“At that point, Zelensky immediately becomes politically vulnerable” because ”his previous widespread popularity has been eroded.” “The war-weary public trusts his leadership less and less and is more suspicious of the rampant corruption in Ukraine,” the column reads.

The author writes about “widespread, credible allegations of corruption against Zelensky and his associates, including the highly controversial chief of staff Andriy Yermak”.

“Trump could help usher in a new chapter in Ukraine’s history – a post-Zelensky era culminating in honest patriots, not dishonest kleptocrats,” Cortes adds, pointing out that the highest-rated candidate now in Ukraine is ex-chief of staff Valery Zaluzhny.