KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked members of his political party to prepare legislation to hold elections despite the country’s war with Russia, he said Tuesday, contingent on the United States and Europe providing security guarantees.
The comments, a sharp reversal of his long-held position that voting is impossible under martial law, came hours after new criticism from President Donald Trump.
“It’s an important time to hold an election,” Trump told Politico in an interview published earlier Tuesday. “They’re using war not to hold an election. … It gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
With security guarantees, Zelensky told reporters, elections could be held within three months. The most important question, he said, was “How can this be done under attack, under rocket fire?”
“Look, I am ready for the elections, and not only that,” Zelensky said. “I am now asking, and I am stating this openly, for the United States of America to help me.”
With that help, he said, “in the next 60 to 90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold elections. I personally have the will and readiness to do so.”
Kyiv is eager to lock in adequate security guarantees — particularly from the United States, which has not made clear its position on military support in the event Ukraine and Russia reach a ceasefire. Zelensky’s comments could challenge Trump to provide such pledges to get the elections he wants.
Ukraine, which is drafting a 20-point peace plan, is also preparing a second document, Zelensky said, spelling out security guarantees “between Ukraine and the United States and between Ukraine and Europe.”
Under Ukrainian law, elections cannot be held while the country is under martial law. Zelensky, who was elected president in 2019, declared and parliament approved martial law after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. He was due to face reelection in 2024.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have long insisted elections during wartime were impossible, given a need to lift martial law and change Ukraine’s constitution and legislation, and the logistical difficulties of carrying out a vote among Ukrainian servicemen and the millions of Ukrainian refugees living abroad.
The Trump administration has long called for elections, as has Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has refused to negotiate with Zelensky, whom he says is illegitimate.
Ukrainian and Western officials have pointed out that Putin himself has been returned to office several times in engineered, undemocratic votes, while Zelensky was elected in free and fair elections.
They’ve also noted that many countries have postponed elections during wartime or national emergencies.
But Zelensky said Tuesday he was asking members of his parliamentary faction “to prepare legislative proposals on the possibility of changing the legislative framework and the law on elections during martial law.”
“I want and expect proposals from our partners and our MPs, and I am ready to go to the polls,” he said.
Serhii Korolchuk contributed to this report.
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