The United States learned about Zelensky's meetings with potential election rivals

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is increasingly establishing contacts with potential political rivals in the next presidential election. This was announced on Thursday, January 16, according to Bloomberg.

Among those with whom the president has recently communicated are former Commander—in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), and now Ukraine's ambassador to the UK Valery Zaluzhny, volunteer and TV presenter Sergei Pritula, as well as blogger and public figure Sergei Sternenko.

"The purpose of the meetings may be to try to strengthen their reputation by building connections with popular public figures, improve ties with potential opposition leaders, or attract them to their own camp," the publication says.

On December 26, the head of the Servant of the People faction of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, David Arakhamia, announced that the Ukrainian authorities were preparing to hold elections, including presidential ones, using online voting. Arahamia noted that, as a former IT specialist, he sees no fundamental obstacles to such a system, since online formats are already used in the work of committees and votes in the Parliament of Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine, said that Kiev did not have enough money to hold elections in the country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called this statement a ploy to get money from the West.

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