Ukraine ‘ready for elections’ if partners guarantee security, Zelensky says

Ukraine is “ready for elections,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week, provided that international partners — including the United States and key European allies — can guarantee the security of the voting process. His comments follow a renewed accusation from US President Donald Trump, who claimed Kyiv was “using the war” to avoid holding elections that would normally have taken place in 2024.

Zelensky’s five-year term was due to end in May 2024, but Ukrainian law prohibits elections under martial law — a measure that remains in effect due to Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022. Nevertheless, mounting international debate has reopened the question of political legitimacy and whether wartime elections could be held at all.

Speaking to journalists after Trump’s remarks in a wide-ranging Politico interview, Zelensky said he would instruct lawmakers and legal experts to draft proposals that could allow for changes in the legislation. If security could be ensured, he said, Ukraine could potentially hold elections within 60 to 90 days.

“I am asking the United States and our European colleagues to help us ensure security for the elections,” Zelensky told reporters, emphasizing that the decision must ultimately belong to Ukrainians. “The issue of elections depends above all on our people. With all due respect to our partners, this is not a question for other nations.”

The president dismissed suggestions that he was attempting to cling to power or prolong the war for political gain. “I have heard hints that we are holding on to power, or that this is the reason the war has not ended. Frankly, this is an unreasonable narrative,” he said. Zelensky was elected in 2019 with more than 73% of the vote.

Inside Ukraine, the prospect of elections during wartime remains highly contentious. Opposition MP Lesia Vasylenko of the Holos party told the BBC that elections were simply “not possible during wartime,” pointing to the precedent of Britain suspending elections during World War II.

The practical obstacles are immense. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers serving on the front lines are unable to vote without leave. According to UN data, nearly 5.7 million Ukrainians remain abroad because of the conflict, raising logistical challenges for absentee or external voting. Meanwhile, repeated Russian missile strikes make it impossible to secure polling stations in many regions.

Hanna Shelest, a foreign-policy analyst at the Ukrainian Prism think tank, said that ensuring the safety of voters and ballot stations would be “nearly impossible” under current conditions. “You cannot guarantee the security of polling stations while areas remain under threat and while strikes continue,” she said.

Even politicians who oppose Zelensky acknowledge the danger of holding elections now. Oleksiy Honcharenko, an MP from the European Solidarity party, called the idea “completely impossible,” arguing that a genuine election requires debates, campaigns, and equal conditions for all candidates — none of which can occur during active warfare.

Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign policy committee, said there was a “strong consensus” across political parties and civil society that elections should not be held under martial law. According to him, a divisive campaign would serve only the interests of Vladimir Putin. “Having failed to destroy us from the outside, Putin wants to divide us from within, using elections as a tool,” he told the BBC.

Recent polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology supports this view. Only about 10% of Ukrainians favor holding elections before a ceasefire or peace deal, while the majority believe voting should take place only after full stabilization.

Some citizens argue that martial law must be lifted before any election occurs. Yulia Tovkach, a business owner from Bucha, said Ukraine must restore normal political conditions before going to the polls. “If we don’t, we will be accused of not having a legitimate election. And to end martial law, we need a truce with security guarantees,” she said.

On the international stage, pressure is increasing. President Trump has urged Kyiv to agree to a peace deal that would involve territorial concessions to Russia, a position welcomed by the Kremlin. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Trump’s comments were “in tune” with Moscow’s view of the conflict.

Zelensky, on a diplomatic tour across Europe following unsuccessful US-led negotiations over the weekend, has appealed to European and NATO leaders to prevent Washington from pushing Kyiv into a deal it considers dangerous. He has reiterated that Ukraine will not surrender any of its territory.

For now, the prospect of Ukrainian elections remains distant. Zelensky insists the country is ready “as soon as conditions allow,” yet creating those conditions may prove more difficult than the president’s critics — or supporters — anticipate.