The walls of the meeting room, in which the former president of Ukraine Peter Poroshenko He welcomes his guests, are full of souvenirs from his days of political glory, especially those who “refer” to his previous relationship with the president Donald Trump.

Poroshenko seeks to take advantage of this experience to rebuild his political profile as the man who can face the US president, especially since his main opponent and current Ukraine leader, Volodimir Zelenskistruggled to secure constant support from Trump.

But Poroshenko, a businessman whose candy empire made him a billionaire, must first clear his name.

Elected in the midst of a wave of pro -Western feeling in 2014, he later persuaded Trump to become the first president of the USA that equipped Ukraine with weapons. In 2019, he lost his candidacy for re -election by Zelenski – a comic known about the role of the president on television – and since then the two men’s counter is simmering.

Earlier this year, the Ukraine He has imposed sanctions on Poroshenko, who is now opposition leader in parliament and is widely believed to be looking forward to a new presidential candidacy whenever a truce is reached and Ukraine is safely organizing elections.

Has already undergone multiple corruption surveys. Ukraine’s State Security Services said the latest sanctions were based on allegations of threats against national security, which Poroshenko refused. On the day before the announcement of sanctions, Zelenski warned that a decision was made to “protect the state and the restoration of justice”.

Sanctions have limited Poroshenko access to his bank accounts. He has also been banned from traveling, sanctions that, he says, have political incentives and intended to reduce his influence.

In the meantime, she insists that Ukraine’s ongoing negotiations with Russia and her transactions with United States They must include opposition voices like his own, otherwise they risk losing legality and basic western support.

“I have worked with President Trump for more than three years and I am proud to have a legacy of it,” the 59 -year -old said in a recent interview, referring to overlap in power from 2016 to 2019. “Every meeting with Trump is an opportunity.”

As one of the biggest donors in the Ukrainian army, Poroshenko said he was afraid that banking restrictions would slow down the war effort by blocking his financial assistance to the front line troops, which amounts to about $ 1 million a week. Travel ban means that it is not able to put pressure on Ukraine support in Europe and Washington.

He is also afraid that sanctions against him will be used to defame Ukraine Republic at a time when the country urgently needs Western support.

The political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko He said that sanctions have so far helped Poroshenko politically and it was “probably a political mistake” by the Zelenski government “because Poroshenko’s and his party’s electoral base increased and Poroshenko was very careful from the media.”

However, analysts say that Poroshenko rates suggest that any presidential candidacy remains distant and that in the Zelensky camp, fears are more about how the billionaire can use his property to support other potential candidates, including those including.

Ukraine was to hold presidential elections in 2024, but the vote was delayed due to the military law imposed after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. Election in military law would violate the Constitution of Ukraine.

However, as speculation about future presidential candidates are growing, the Russia He has taken advantage of the lack of elections in Ukraine to try to defame Zelenski and call him illegal. Earlier this year, Trump called Zelenski “dictator without elections”, motivating fears that Washington supported Russia’s allegations and could link future military support to the elections.

Despite Poroshenko’s own political ambitions and his public disputes with Zelenski, he has publicly argued that no vote should be organized before a real ceasefire. “I am extremely against any election during the war,” he said.

However, he claims that sanctions – which could ban him from participation – is enough proof that there are those in government that are already preparing for the possibility of elections in the near future. “I am the living proof of this,” he said.

THE Anton GrushetskyExecutive Director of the International Institute of Sociology of Kiev, he said that even if most politicians say they are against the elections, “in fact, secretly, I think everyone is preparing if … we have a successful truce for Ukraine with some security guarantees.”

Zelenski’s re -election is in no way guaranteed. In the first year after the invasion of 2022, the country – and its politicians – joined him as a leader in times of war. But a failed military counterattack in 2023, analysts said, created an opening for new criticism of his approach – including Poroshenko camp. Opposition MPs have also argued that they were excluded from key talks about the country’s future.

A former Ukrainian official who worked with Poroshenko and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive domestic policies, said Poroshenko’s team is increasingly based on a Trump -type narrative, arguing that if he were in power, the Russian invasion would not. Their comments are: “All of you fools made a mistake in 2019. You voted for the wrong press and now you have a war crisis.”

“I think he plays more against stability in the country,” the former official said. “He is trying to separate society and we do not need such things.”

Sitting on the head of a long table in his meeting room, Poroshenko showed a paper on the wall behind him. Was the proclamation of Crimea, signed by the Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo 2018. Russia annexed and occupied the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. Pompeo later said that “the United States rejects the attempted annexation of Crimea by Russia and is committed to maintaining this policy until its territorial integrity is restored.”

“This is the result of my foreign policy,” Poroshenko said. “And this is not just a copy. This is original, “he added.

But after four years out of power, Trump returned stronger, more experienced and surrounded by a new team of consultants. The stakes for Ukraine and the world is even higher than it was in its last term, before the invasion of 2022 – and the Ukraine war has become a point of controversy in US domestic policy. In April, the Trump government proposed a peace plan to Ukrainian officials who included the recognition of Crimea by the US as Russian – a direct violation of the Declaration that is framed on the wall of Poroshenko.

However, Poroshenko said that even if some of Trump’s policies have changed, his approach has not changed. “I know Trump … He makes a decision without any information from the State Department or the Ministry of Defense. He trusts his intuition, “he said. “And those who go to the negotiation with him should take into account. Or, if you don’t like it, just don’t go. “

Poroshenko visited Washington for the last time in February, before traveling. He met with US officials and attended Trump’s speech.

Following Zelenski’s devastating visit to the Oval Office, Politico reported that Trump officials were then contacted with opposition politicians in Ukraine, including senior members of the Poroshenko Party.