A future leader? The war hero some hope will beat Zelenskyy

One afternoon in early March, three days after the disastrous showdown between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, there was a flurry of telephone activity at the Ukrainian embassy in London.

- Shaun Walker

JD Vance's team was on the line and wanted to set up a call with Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK and formerly the army's commander in chief.

The US vice-president had been instrumental in provoking the confrontation between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, from his perch on an adjacent sofa.

Now, Vance and others in Trump's orbit were apparently sounding out potential alternatives to the troublesome Zelenskyy.

Vance's team "tried various diplomatic and other channels" to get through to Zaluzhnyi, said one of three sources with knowledge of the efforts who spoke to the Guardian.

Zaluzhnyi, after consultation with Zelenskyy's chief of staff, refused to take the call.

The episode was reflective of the political tightrope that Zaluzhnyi has walked since Zelenskyy dismissed him as army chief last February and dispatched him to London.

On the one hand, accustomed to working within a strict military hierarchy, Zaluzhnyi remains loyal to the government.

On the other, many - both at home and abroad - see him as Ukraine's next president, and are pushing him to launch a political campaign.

This account is based on interviews with several people close to Zaluzhnyi, as well as political insiders, diplomats and others with direct knowledge.

Most requested anonymity.

Many details are being reported for the first time.

No election is scheduled in Ukraine, with voting legally and technically impossible while the country is at war.

Even Zelenskyy's staunchest domestic opponents do not support holding a vote now and, since the Oval Office disaster, relations with Trump have also improved.

Last week, the Ukrainian president was back at the White House in a more cordial atmosphere.

But everyone in Ukraine knows that sooner or later, politics will return.