Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says he’s ready for elections after Trump said it was time for a vote

The comments come after Trump told Politico that he thinks it’s time for Ukraine to hold an election.

“They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. “You know, they talk about democracy, but we’re getting to a point where it’s no longer a democracy.”

Ukrainians elected Zelenskyy, a former actor and comedian, after a two-round vote held in March and April 2019. He did not obtain an absolute majority in the first round but received 73% of the votes in the second.

Trump also said he was not ready to abandon the peace process, but that the parties involved had to “play the game.”

Trump and other members of the administration have at times echoed the Kremlin’s arguments on Ukraine, including saying that Ukraine is not a true democracy. While Trump has long maintained cordial relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite their differences, relations with Zelensky are particularly difficult.

During a disastrous visit to the White House in February, Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly chastised Zelensky and told him he was not grateful enough to the United States.

Putin, who has crushed dissent and independent media in Russia, launched a full-scale invasion of his much smaller neighbor in February 2022.

Zelensky has recently waged an all-out campaign to shore up his support for U.S.-backed talks aimed at ending the war. Earlier, he was at the Vatican to meet Pope Leo XIV.

On Monday, he met with the leaders of Germany, France and Britain, who themselves are struggling to find a place at the negotiating table with Russia.

He also said Monday that Ukraine would not cede any land to Russia. “We have no legal rights – under Ukrainian law, under our constitution, under international law – and honestly, we have no moral rights either,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump initially approved a 28-point peace plan to end the war, which included ceding its territory to Ukraine, among other demands seen as favorable to Russia. Zelensky said Monday that U.S.-led negotiations had reduced the original 28 points to 20, and while he believed in Trump’s commitment to ending the war, he did not trust Russia.