Four senior aides to U.S. President Donald Trump have held secret talks with key political opponents of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Politico [reports](https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-allies-secret-talks-volodymyr-zelenskyy-opposition-ukraine-elections-yulia-tymoshenko-petro-poroshenko/), citing three Ukrainian lawmakers and an American foreign policy expert.
According to the sources, the Trump allies met with two members of the Ukrainian parliament: Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the Batkivshchyna party and Ukraine’s former prime minister, and Petro Poroshenko, leader of the European Solidarity party and Zelensky’s predecessor as president.
During the talks, Politico writes, the parties discussed the possibility of holding early presidential elections in Ukraine. The U.S. is reportedly exploring unofficial channels for elections to take place between the agreement on a temporary ceasefire and the start of full-fledged peace negotiations.
When asked about the talks with Trump’s team, Tymoshenko’s spokesperson Natalya Lysova thanked Politico for its interest but said, “We won’t comment on that yet.”
Politico also reached out to the four Trump allies said to have participated in the secret talks, but they did not respond.