The voting narrative is only peddled by the “Russians” that supposedly want to destabilize Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky has claimed
Holding a vote amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine would spell a disaster for Kiev for a large number of reasons ranging from popular disapproval to literally “losing” its Armed Forces, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky claimed this week.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, Keith Kellogg, stated that Washington would like to see Kiev holding presidential and parliamentary votes before the end of the year. Zelensky had previously suspended both elections indefinitely, citing the martial law.
Elections in Ukraine at a time like this would only benefit Russia, the Ukrainian leader claimed in an interview with the ITV News broadcaster. “The topic of elections has been brought up by Russians,” he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly questioned Zelensky’s own legitimacy since his presidential term officially expired in May 2024. In late January, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Ukrainian leader could not sign any international treaties as they could be easily declared null and void afterward due to his present status.
Putin stated at that time that the Ukrainian constitution does not envisage extensions of the president’s term, only authorizing this for the parliament, which he called a legitimate governing body in Ukraine. Moscow never explicitly demanded Kiev hold any elections.
In his interview, Zelensky still maintained that Russia only wanted to see elections in Ukraine to bring about “destabilization” to its neighbor. He also claimed that Ukrainians themselves do not want to any vote while he himself was “absolutely not afraid of them.”“During this war, our population is against elections, all people are against it,” he stated.
According to the Ukrainian leader, holding an election would require the Ukrainian government to lift martial law as no voting is allowed as long as one is in place. “If we suspend the martial law we will lose our army,” he said, adding that Kiev would not be able to make the troops stay on the frontlines otherwise.
“People will come back home and will have every right to return home,” he said, adding that even those who would not go home, would still lose their “combat capability and morale.” Ukraine has launched a massive mobilization campaign after imposing martial law soon after the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022.
Kiev has since been facing public criticism over its heavy-handed approach toward mobilization. Numerous videos have appeared on social media showing Ukrainian conscription officers chasing potential recruits in the streets, brawling with them, and subjecting them to abuse. Reports about such efforts growing increasingly violent and lawless have appeared both in the local and Western media.
The mobilization campaign was also marred by widespread draft dodging, corruption, and desertion. Last year, the elite 155th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces made headlines after some 1,700 of its soldiers had reportedly fled the unit without firing a single shot.
According to Zelensky, holding the vote with the military still in the trenches would be “not fair.” He also described the potential elections as near impossible “logistically” with some 8 million Ukrainians abroad. Earlier in the same interview, he called on Kiev’s Western backers to first provide Ukraine with security guarantees and economic aid that would be enough to convince all those, who had fled abroad, to return.
