Politics
Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Ready For Elections Within 90 Days If US Ensures Wartime Security
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he is ready to hold national elections within three months if the United States and other Western allies can provide the security needed to conduct a wartime vote.
Ukrainian law prohibits elections during martial law, and Zelenskiy’s term officially expired last year. But he now faces renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who is urging Kyiv to hold elections as part of a push for rapid progress toward ending the nearly four-year war with Russia.
“I’m ready for elections, and moreover I ask that the US together with our European colleagues, help ensure the security of an election,” Zelenskiy told reporters. “And then in the next 60–90 days Ukraine will be ready to hold an election.”
His comments followed a Politico interview published earlier on Tuesday in which Trump accused Ukraine of using the war as an excuse to delay voting. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,” Trump said.
Zelenskiy rejected suggestions that he is trying to cling to power, calling such claims “totally inadequate.”
Ukraine is resisting a US-backed peace proposal that Kyiv sees as overly favourable to Moscow, and it is seeking strong international guarantees that Russia will be prevented from launching fresh offensives.
For months, Ukrainian officials have argued that elections are unsafe while Russian missile strikes continue across the country, nearly a million troops remain on the front lines, and millions of displaced Ukrainians are scattered abroad.
Major uncertainties remain, including how to organise voting for citizens living in areas occupied by Russia roughly one-fifth of Ukraine and for those in frontline regions exposed to constant shelling.
Zelenskiy said he would ask parliament to draft legal proposals that could enable elections during martial law if adequate security conditions are met.
Polls show most Ukrainians oppose holding elections during the war but also express frustration with a political establishment largely unchanged since the last national vote in 2019.
