Zelensky Says Ukraine Could Hold Elections Within Months
kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials were expected to deliver their latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators on Wednesday, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who also said Ukraine would be ready to hold elections within three months if partners could guarantee safe voting in wartime and if its election law could be changed.
Zelensky was responding to comments by US President Donald Trump, in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to hold elections.
Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday that he was “ready” for elections but would need help from the United States and possibly Europe to ensure the vote was secure. He suggested that Ukraine could be ready to hold the vote in 60 to 90 days if this condition was met.
“To organize elections, two issues must be addressed: first and foremost, security – how to organize them, how to conduct them under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military – how they will vote,” Zelenskyy said.
“And the second question concerns the legislative framework required to guarantee the legitimacy of the elections,” he said.
Zelensky previously stressed that a vote cannot legally take place while martial law imposed due to Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago is in effect. He also questioned how a vote could take place when Ukraine’s civilian areas are being bombed by Russia and nearly 20% of the country is under Russian occupation.
Zelensky said he had asked his party’s lawmakers in parliament to develop legislative proposals that would allow elections while Ukraine is under martial law.
Ukrainians have generally supported Zelensky’s arguments and there has been no clamor in Ukraine for elections. According to current Ukrainian law, the Zelensky regime is legitimate.
But as Trump pushes for an agreement between kyiv and Moscow, Zelensky walks a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and demonstrating to the US president that he is willing to compromise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelensky cannot legitimately negotiate a peace deal because his five-year term, which began in 2019, had expired.
“I think it’s an important time to have an election. They’re using war to not have an election,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, echoing Moscow’s position.
A new US national security strategy released last Friday made it clear that Trump wants to improve US relations with Moscow and “restore strategic stability with Russia.”
The document also presents European allies as weak.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday praised Trump’s role in peace efforts in Ukraine, saying in a speech to the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, that Moscow appreciated his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made the war in Ukraine inevitable.”
While Trump’s decisions are likely to be crucial for Ukraine, Washington’s peace efforts face sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and kyiv.
Trump’s initial peace proposal was heavily biased toward Russia’s demands. To counter this, Zelensky turned to his European supporters.
In recent days, Zelensky met with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, as well as NATO and European Union leaders in Brussels, before traveling to Rome for talks with the Italian prime minister and Pope Leo XIV.
Zelensky said three documents were under discussion with American and European partners: a constantly evolving 20-point framework document, a document on security guarantees and a document on Ukraine’s recovery.
Support from Europe, however, has been patchy, resulting in a decline in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.
Foreign military aid to Ukraine declined sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international aid to Ukraine said Wednesday.
Average annual aid, mainly provided by the United States and Europe, amounted to about 41.6 billion euros ($48.4 billion) between 2022 and 2024. But so far this year, Ukraine has received only 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.
“If this slower pace continues in the remaining months (of the year), 2025 will become the year with the lowest new aid allocations” since the start of the war, the statement said.
This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden significantly increased their aid to Ukraine, while Germany almost tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the United Kingdom more than doubled their contributions, according to the Kiel Institute.
On the other hand, the press release specifies, Spain recorded no new military aid to kyiv in 2025, while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15% compared to the period 2022-2024.
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