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Ukraine will only hold elections once it has security guarantees in place and a ceasefire with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, pushing back at suggestions he was planning to stage fresh ballots under US pressure.
“We will move to elections when all the relevant security guarantees are in place. I have always said that the issue of elections is raised by various partners. Ukraine itself has never raised it,” Zelenskyy said in a WhatsApp chat with journalists on Wednesday.
“But of course we are ready for elections. I said it is very simple to do. Make a ceasefire, there will be elections…First comes security, then politics.”
Under Ukraine’s constitution, holding national elections while the country is under martial law is illegal.
Martial law was declared across the country on 24 February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Russian forces are also occupying parts of Ukrainian territory, making voting impossible.
If Russia also agrees, it may be possible to “end hostilities by summer,” Zelenskyy added.
The Financial Times reported earlier that Ukraine was mulling the possibility of holding a presidential election within the next three months, after coming under pressure from Washington.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said Ukraine can hold elections after a peace deal with Russia is signed, but has recently signalled willingness for a speedy vote as part of a US plan to end the war.
He has also said any deal that involves ceding territory to Moscow should be put to a referendum.
Zelenskyy, a former comedian who played a fictionalised president on Ukrainian TV before running for office, was elected in 2019 for a five-year term.
Russia has repeatedly questioned Zelenskyy’s legitimacy post-2024, when that term would have expired.
US President Donald Trump said in December that Ukraine “is on the point of where it’s not a democracy anymore” and repeated his criticism of Zelenskyy, arguing that his government is using the war to avoid calling a vote.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly said they support a new ballot, which would test the popularity of Zelenskyy and his management of the war effort and peace talks, but point to the logistical complications of doing so while the country is being attacked daily by missiles and drones while soldiers with a right to vote remain deployed on the frontline.
There are a number of practical obstacles to holding a ballot, such as security during any campaign and vote and what to do with the millions of Ukrainian refugees forced abroad.
Millions more have been displaced internally, while hundreds of thousands are living under Russian occupation.
But polling shows little appetite among the Ukrainian public for a ballot during the war.
Additional sources • AP, AFP