Zelenskyy denies plans to announce Ukraine elections soon despite pressure from Trump

Kiev— President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not plan to make an announcement about the impending presidential election in an upcoming speech to mark four years of war, the Ukrainian leader said Wednesday night, after a report suggested he would schedule a national vote due to pressure from President Trump.

Zelenskyy told reporters that Ukraine “will move towards elections when all relevant security guarantees are in place.”

The Financial Times previously reported that Zelenskyy planned to announce that presidential elections would be held in May during a speech on February 24, a date that will mark four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

“I want to say that this is a special date: February 24. Even if there was an intention or relevant steps to bring certain elections closer, I think it would be an absolutely foolish idea to use that date to talk about politics,” Zelenskyy said. “This is a very serious date: four years of war. This is a large number of people who have defended our state and given their lives. And it is since February 24 that our people have been defending their country every day. I could never do what you ask of me. Therefore, February 24 cannot be used to announce any election, any election at all.”

A Zelenskyy adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity also told News themezone on Wednesday that there was “no change in the path of negotiations that would lead the president to make this announcement.”

“As for the elections and the intention to announce something on the 24th, this is the first time I have heard about it. I guess I heard it for the first time in the Financial Times. Now I hear it from you for the second time,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Wednesday.

zelensky he told reporters in Kyiv last week that the Trump administration was pressuring Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal to end the war in June.

“The Americans propose that the parties end the war early this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said.

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Trump has at times been fiercely critical of Zelenskyy, including in comments a year ago when he called him a “dictator without elections.” But Ukrainian politicians point out that under the country’s constitution, national elections cannot be held during martial law, which has been imposed since Russia launched its war.

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In December, President Trump renewed that line of criticism, accusing Zelenskyy of “using war” to prevent elections in an interview with Politico.

The Ukrainian leader then responded to Trump’s comments, saying that elections could be held if the United States and Europe were prepared to “guarantee security” in his country amid the current attack by Russia.

Large public gatherings have been banned in Ukraine and curfews remain in place under martial law measures aimed at protecting civilian life. Meanwhile, Russia’s deadly airstrikes show no signs of abating.

In January alone, Russia hit Ukraine with a record 5,717 bombs and missiles, according to an analysis by the Ukrainian group Oko Gora + News and Analytics. Explosive drone attacks have also been relentless. Authorities said a drone attacked a civilian house overnight in the Kharkiv regionkilling a father and his three young children and seriously injuring his pregnant wife.

In addition to security risks, experts say legal and logistical limitations also make holding elections during war nearly impossible. According to Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, it is illegal to hold parliamentary or presidential elections under martial law.

The war has also driven many Ukrainian voters out of the country and there is little infrastructure to allow remote voting. As of November 2024, there were some 5.2 million Ukrainian refugees abroad, according to the Center for Economic Strategy, while the United Nations International Organization for Migration estimates that another 3 million Ukrainians are internally displaced and would also be unable to vote at local polling stations.

For all those reasons, Ukrainian officials say elections cannot be held before a ceasefire takes effect.

Many also argue that any national election should include or accompany a referendum for the Ukrainian people to support – or reject – the terms of any eventual agreement to end the war, which could include Ukraine making territorial concessions, although Zelenskyy has so far ruled this out.

According to the president’s office, such a referendum would only be valid if more than half of the country’s eligible voters were able to participate.

“Elections are just one part of a peace plan,” the Ukrainian presidential adviser told News themezone on Wednesday. “We will vote together on all points of the peace plan, and we cannot choose separate elections.”