President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a statement on the likely timing of the elections. The Verkhovna Rada will decide on the date of the next presidential and parliamentary elections after the martial law is lifted in the country. Until then, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the current president and parliament are the legitimate authorities.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview with TSN.ua.
The President of Ukraine also emphasized that he would not make concessions if Russia demanded elections as a condition for starting negotiations.
“I can explain the situation both de jure and de facto. Firstly, I want to be honest, there is no talk of elections anywhere except in Russia, and some people in Ukraine are talking about them. It seems to me that people are afraid of elections during the war. And in Russia, they really want it to happen in order to maintain the track of the illegitimacy of the president of Ukraine. According to our constitution, the presidential and parliamentary elections cannot take place during martial law, or we need to change the legislation, which is also impossible during martial law”, – Zelensky said.
Regarding the likelihood of holding elections in 2025, Zelenskyy emphasized that it would depend on the situation at the front.
“If we manage to achieve the end of the hot stage of the war in a strong position for Ukraine, if we can do this, if we have a strong army, a strong weapons package, security guarantees, then, in principle, we can think about lifting martial law in Ukraine. And if there is no martial law, then it’s basically up to the parliament to support a particular election date. I mean, after martial law ends, there is no need to wait for years before the elections,” – the president said.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the electoral process in Ukraine will be held exclusively according to the law and this issue cannot be a subject of bargaining if Russia sets the holding of elections in Ukraine as a condition for starting negotiations.