Are you ready for the elections? What are Zelensky, Zaluzhny, and other top politicians preparing for?

Political circles are once again discussing elections. In some parties, amid rumors of negotiations regarding the end of the war, the activity of party offices has picked up. What are Ukrainian politicians preparing for in 2025, and what agreements are being made – in the report by RBC-Ukraine journalists Ulyana Bezpalko and Milana Lelich.

Throughout the duration of the large-scale war, the topic of elections has been discussed several times in the media landscape. While the sluggish preparation for them has been ongoing for many months in the political environment, the victory of Donald Trump has led to a much louder conversation about them in the corridors. Some party offices have already started seriously analyzing their ratings and support for opponents, as well as looking for potential allies. The arrival of a new president in the White House, who has repeatedly promised to bring Russia and Ukraine to peace negotiations, has given many hope for a swift end to the war.

However, it remains unclear to what extent the change of power in the U.S. truly brings elections in Ukraine closer, and to what extent it is just self-delusion among their potential participants. Especially when confidence in imminent elections is built, as one of RBC-Ukraine's sources put it, "on reprints from the New York Times about a source having communicated something to another source."

"Elections are being handled by those who are not engaged in negotiations," says one member of the presidential team to RBC-Ukraine. Since only a very limited group of individuals from the ruling team is involved in "negotiations" or, more precisely, preliminary contacts with Europeans and Americans regarding the end of the war, it turns out that almost everyone else is focused on elections.

Zelensky and Zaluzhny: Will they or won't they?

The first serious discussions on how and in what format "Servant of the People" will approach the next elections took place just before the start of the full-scale war. At that time, RBC-Ukraine wrote that the presidential party would go into the elections under a different name, and its personnel would be significantly reshuffled. Years later, this concept remains relevant.

The presidential team will definitely bid farewell to the brand "Servant of the People" – it has long exhausted itself and has become overtly toxic. Therefore, whenever the elections may take place, the current ruling party will participate as a conditional "Zelensky Bloc" (working title), which, according to various polls, garners around 20% of support.

Some time ago, discussing the future fate of the party, the presidential team considered the idea of renaming "Servant of the People" to "Diya." However, this name, as sources in the presidential team report, does not significantly boost their ratings.

The president's team predicts that in the future electoral lists of the political force, there may be no more than ten percent of current MPs from the mono-majority – those who have performed well in the Rada. The rest of the composition will be formed from people suggested by Zelensky – local leaders (individual mayors or heads of OVA), popular volunteers, bloggers, activists, and military personnel. Additionally, some "technocrats" – individuals from the head of the OP Andriy Yermak's team, who will take on the role of managers within the faction and party.

"But this time, the selection will surely be more serious than last time. The team will be just as diverse, but people will be scrutinized more carefully to ensure they are more competent, in order to avoid the issues that occurred in this convocation," one source explained.

Another interesting detail: an informed source from the publication recently noted that regions allegedly received a request from the OP – to compile dossiers on potential candidates who could be included in the lists of the pro-government party in the future.

Another source in the presidential team clarified: in fact, such requests for localities have been made three times since 2022. According to the source, this is being handled by the relevant deputy head of the OP for regional policy. He requests the completion of questionnaires from the heads of OVA and the preparation of extensive reports – so-called "teshki" – from law enforcement. These dossiers include not only information on potential candidates but also an overview of the overall situation, sentiments in the regions, as well as an analysis of the media presence and rhetoric of various regional figures.

"This is not necessarily done in connection with the elections. But, of course, relying on these reports and questionnaires, potential candidates for the political force and members of the electoral commissions will be selected," the source noted.

The head of such an updated party could be Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. As several RBC-Ukraine sources noted, he is currently the main candidate who could lead Zelensky's party into the elections. However, all these ideas are still at the very early "drafting" stage.

"If we talk about who is preparing for the elections and how, it seems we are preparing the least. It was planned that the mouthpiece of these preparatory processes should be Vice Prime Minister Kuleba and the new deputy head of the OP Mykyta. But so far, no initiative has come from them. And at the level of our regional cells, there is also no visible activity," says one source in "Servant of the People."

The fundamental reason is that there is no answer to the main question: will President Volodymyr Zelensky run for re-election? Much will depend on the conditions under which the war will eventually end, how these conditions will be perceived by society, and who will become Zelensky's main competitor.

Within the presidential team, there are various opinions regarding his participation in the elections. The closest circle leans towards the view that he should run regardless of the circumstances. The "second-tier" entourage believes that they should look at the sociological data and make a decision closer to the elections.

Another factor of uncertainty is whether the former commander-in-chief, now the ambassador of Ukraine to the UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, will run in the elections. All public and closed opinion polls conducted during the war show his leadership in electoral sympathies, regardless of the candidate lineup. Zelensky is in second place behind him. Although numerous sources from various political camps believe that Zaluzhnyi will eventually run, he himself maintains intrigue.

It is possible he has not yet made a decision for himself: to enter politics or not. Another possibility is that the former commander-in-chief is remaining silent until the campaign begins to avoid a false start. Meanwhile, he can keep interest in his persona alive through activity on social media, periodically releasing videos tied to specific occasions, and gradually publishing an autobiographical trilogy.

If Zaluzhnyi indeed enters big politics in this manner, many similarities could be drawn with Zelensky's election campaign: a new face, prolonged intrigue, high interest in the individual, a branded campaign, except instead of a book, there was a television series six years ago.

"Zaluzhnyi's campaign, if it can already be considered his campaign, is being conducted in the mold of Zelensky's campaign from 2018-2019. Only after his victory might we get not a second Zelensky, but a second Yushchenko," reflects one of the "long-timers" in Ukrainian politics during a conversation with the publication. This analogy has been echoed by several other sources who spoke with RBC-Ukraine.

Considering that Zaluzhnyi currently lacks a team with which he could run for elections, there are those in Ukraine proposing future alliances. According to one source in the presidential entourage, it was recently realized at Bankova that the former commander-in-chief still represents a serious political challenge for them. The "reference" to the UK, which was supposed to take Zaluzhnyi out of the public eye, did not work. To address this issue, the head of the OP Andriy Yermak specifically stopped in London on his way home from Washington.

Two unrelated sources from the publication reported that, in addition to discussing diplomatic matters, the guest from Kyiv suggested to the former commander-in-chief not to run for president but instead to lead Zelensky's party in the parliamentary elections. RBC-Ukraine could not obtain official confirmation or denial of this information.

"Yermak returned from that conversation quite optimistic, in the spirit of 'everything is fine, we will be able to come to an agreement with him.' However, his optimism seemed implausible. Zaluzhnyi allegedly replied to him that he had not yet decided whether he would enter politics. It appears he is currently afraid to take on such a huge responsibility. But he might decide if entering politics does not seem like his own decision. If he is 'asked' – by military personnel, volunteers, activists," noted one source in the ruling team.

Parliamentary elections and opposition calculations

According to the publication, Zaluzhnyi is currently being courted by representatives of other political camps, but more with an eye towards the parliamentary elections. The conditions are quite simple: "from us – party structure and support in the presidential race, from you – ratings and a high position like speaker or prime minister."

Parliamentary elections promise much more uncertainty than presidential ones. If the favorites of the