The high popularity that the Ukrainian president had in the early days of the Russian invasion, with an approval rating of about 90 percent, has dipped badly.
Since Russia invaded his country three years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has survived a military assault on his capital, assassination plots, corruption scandals in his government, political infighting and ominous setbacks in his army’s fight against Russia.
He had enough support from Ukrainians to carry him through each time.
Now, with Donald J. Trump installed in the White House, Mr. Zelensky is facing a new challenge: maintaining good relations with the country’s most critical ally and a president who has been disdainful toward him and skeptical of military aid.
Mr. Trump’s arrival comes at a precarious time for Mr. Zelensky domestically. The soaring popularity he experienced early in the war — with an approval rating of about 90 percent — has been slumping badly. The latest polling shows support sinking to nearly 50 percent, and it falls even lower in surveys that gauge his popularity against potential competitors if elections were held in the wake of a cease-fire agreement with Russia.
And a new trouble spot for Mr. Zelensky has emerged: the revival of political opposition in Ukraine, animated by the prospects of a cease-fire and the elections that could soon follow. His opponents are also encouraged by the barrage of criticism Mr. Trump and his aides have aimed at Mr. Zelensky.
Two opponents who ran against Mr. Zelensky in Ukrainian elections in 2019 — former President Petro O. Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko — have reached out to members of Mr. Trump’s team. Ms. Tymoshenko traveled to Washington to attend some inaugural events on Monday.
Mr. Zelensky did not attend the ceremony. He had said he would travel to Washington only if invited by Mr. Trump.