FT: Zelensky to announce date of presidential election and referendum on peace deal on February 24

Ukraine has begun planning to hold a presidential election at the same time as a referendum on a peace treaty with Russia. The Trump administration has insisted that both votes be held by May 15 or risk losing proposed US guarantees.

The Financial Times reports this, citing Ukrainian and European officials involved in the planning, and other informed sources.

This is consistent with recent statements by President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US wants to end the war by June and wants a clear timetable. According to Zelensky, the US will then focus on the November congressional elections.

According to sources, Zelensky intends to announce a plan for presidential elections and a referendum on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the FT, and the US embassy in Ukraine declined to comment.

Ukrainian and Western officials have stressed that neither the timetable nor the US ultimatum is likely to be met, as it depends on several factors, including the ability to make progress on a peace deal with Russia. But the plan underscores Zelensky’s desire to maximize his reelection chances while reassuring US President Donald Trump that Kyiv will not delay a peace deal if one can be reached.

Officials caution that the Trump administration has previously set deadlines that have already passed, but Washington is leaving Ukraine little room to maneuver as US midterm elections approach. They said the plan could also be delayed by territorial disputes between Ukraine and Russia, including control of the Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).

They also said the timeline could be disrupted if Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraineʼs critical infrastructure and offensive in the east. The election plan could hinge on whether Zelensky can secure a peace deal he sees as fair and acceptable to Ukrainians, the sources said.

According to the working schedule, Ukraine’s parliament would have to spend March and April working on the legislative changes needed to ensure voting in wartime conditions. The accelerated timeline would mean that the election would be held while hundreds of thousands of soldiers are at the front and millions of Ukrainians are internally displaced, creating risks to the legitimacy of the vote.

Elections in Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs term was supposed to end in May 2024, and the Verkhovna Radaʼs term was supposed to end in October 2023, but elections cannot be held due to the war. The Constitution does not directly prohibit elections during martial law; such a ban is contained in the law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law".

At the same time, the Constitution contains a number of requirements for elections and referendums that cannot be fulfilled during active hostilities. Therefore, Ukraine insists that elections are possible only under the condition of a ceasefire and security guarantees.

However, Russia regularly demands elections and calls the current government illegitimate. The United States has also joined these demands. President Donald Trump said in an interview on December 9 that “the time has come” to hold elections in Ukraine.

Zelensky responded the same day that he was ready to hold elections and “is not holding on” to the presidency. But the issues of security, voting by the military, and the legal basis for the legitimacy of the elections remain.

The head of the “Servant of the People” faction Davyd Arakhamia stated on December 22 that the MPs in the Verkhovna Rada are forming a working group that should promptly work out the issue of the possible holding of presidential elections during martial law.

Its creation was later approved by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk. He stated that the law on elections during wartime would be applied once.

In January 2026, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Oleh Didenko presented the CECʼs proposals for holding the elections. The Commission proposes to establish a 6-month preparatory period after the end of martial law and before the start of the electoral process.

At the same time, the terms of the electoral process remain unchanged — 90 days for the elections of the President of Ukraine and 60 days for the elections of MPs of Ukraine.

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