Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that his country would be ready to hold elections within the next 60 to 90 days if security is ensured, seeking to push back on U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that he is using the war with Russia to cling to power.
Facing mounting pressure from the US president to end the conflict, Zelenskiy said he was “ready for elections” but was concerned about security.
“How can they do this under missile attacks on our troops? The question is how they vote,” he said Tuesday.
“Together with my European colleagues, I have called on the United States to help ensure election security, and I am now publicly declaring this.”
Zelenskiy won a landslide victory in the April 2019 presidential election and dissolved parliament when he was sworn into office a month later. His National Service Party won a majority in parliamentary elections in July of the same year.
Less than three years later, in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, and Zelensky’s popularity soared, with polls showing 90% of Ukrainians said they trusted him. Although his approval ratings are down from 2022 levels, they have remained fairly stable in recent years.
Simply put, it is prohibited by martial law.
Presidential elections were scheduled for 2024 in Ukraine, but in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion, martial law was declared to counter the onslaught of Russian forces. Since then, it has been extended in 90-day increments by executive order.
Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that elections will be held once the war ends and international standards for voting are met.
Peace negotiations are at a delicate time. Ukraine is preparing to submit a revised peace plan led by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The original 28-point peace plan was criticized for heavily supporting Russia’s extremist demands and was reduced to 20, but key territorial issues remain unresolved.
President Zelenskyy faces continued and increasing pressure to make concessions from President Trump, and this is one of the steps the US president appears to be pushing.
Instead of bowing to pressure, President Zelenskiy adopted a new approach, emphasizing security needs and using this to push the United States to secure an interim ceasefire agreement with Russia.
Calling Mr. Zelenskyy illegitimate and questioning the authority of the election has been one of the cornerstones of Russian propaganda since 2024, when Mr. Zelenskyy’s term was scheduled to expire. This story has crept into U.S. ministerial statements before. Now, President Trump is accusing President Zelensky of using the war to avoid the election.
Election advocates say Russia’s history of interference makes it all the more important that the vote be held in conditions that meet international standards.
“This is about the reputation and legitimacy of the current Ukrainian state. Without legitimacy, the state cannot survive, because Russia will destroy our reputation, and we will become a failed state,” said Olha Aivazovska of the Opola Citizen Network, an electoral reform group.
But some analysts say holding elections now would cause major political gridlock, and chaos is where Russia thrives.
Although Ukraine is under martial law, there is no regulatory framework for elections. President Zelenskiy has said he will seek changes to the law, but practical and logistical challenges will remain.
With more than 5.9 million refugees abroad, according to the United Nations, and 4.4 million displaced within the country, according to the government, updating and verifying voter registration will be a daunting task.
The war also dealt a major blow to election infrastructure. Only 75% of Ukraine’s polling stations are currently operational, according to Serhiy Dubovik, deputy head of Ukraine’s Election Commission, who spoke to CNN before Zelenskyy’s latest comments.
Nearly 1 million Ukrainians serve in the military, many of them working on the front lines, and it is difficult to see how they can vote without guarantees of a cessation of fighting.
Dubovyk said six months of preparation were needed to meet international standards for fair and free elections in Ukraine. If the polls were conducted sooner, “it would be impossible to fully guarantee compliance with all international standards,” he said.
Ukrainians interviewed by Reuters following the president’s comments were almost unanimous in saying, “Let’s focus on the war, not the election.”
“People in the trenches are going to have to vote somehow, but will the ballot boxes get to the people in the trenches?” Roman said. Roman is a 61-year-old pensioner identified only by his first name. “It seems to me that we need to end the war first and then hold elections.”
Lana, 25, a bookstore employee, said President Trump’s views make no sense.
“We even have a provision that there will be no elections while our country is under martial law,” she said. “I support holding elections as a matter of course after martial law is lifted and we win.”
It’s hard to understand how they happen. Parts of Ukraine are still under occupation. Every day, drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles crash into cities and towns, causing death and devastation.
Ukraine’s capital and other major cities are regularly experiencing long-term power outages, with electricity and gas infrastructure targeted, and Russian forces are still trying to seize territory in the east.
