Ukrainian Ambassador to the US: Kyiv is ready to discuss holding elections in the country

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

Ukraine is ready to discuss with the Administration of the US President Donald Trump the holding of elections in the country by the end of 2025. So far, the American side has not initiated such a conversation.

This was reported by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova in an interview with Suspilne.

According to her, when the issue of elections in Ukraine was "theoretically discussed" during 2023-2024, Kyivʼs position was: "for this, hostilities must be ended", because during the war it will not be possible to ensure full access to voting and create conditions for election campaigns.

The other day, on February 1, the US President Donald Trumpʼs special representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg stated that Washington expects presidential and parliamentary elections from Ukraine — potentially by the end of 2025, especially if a ceasefire with Russia can be agreed upon in the coming months.

Keith Kellogg argued that “most democracies hold elections during wartime”, and he considers this a sign of a strong democracy. According to Reuters, Kellogg and other White House officials discussed how to push Ukraine to agree to elections in exchange for an “initial ceasefire with Russia”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a recent interview that elections are possible only after the end of the hot phase of the war, when Ukraine will remain in a strong position and with a strong army. He has not yet decided whether he will run for president again.

Trump and the war in Ukraine

During his election campaign, Trump claimed that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in one day”. However, after being elected president, his narratives changed. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal writes that he instructed special envoy Keith Kellogg to end the war in Ukraine in 100 days.

Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine will defend its integrity and will not cede its territories to Russia. In September 2024, Zelensky met with Donald Trump and presented him with a victory plan. According to the Ukrainian leader, the meeting was very meaningful.

The new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that under Donald Trumpʼs presidency, ending the Russia-Ukraine war will be the official policy of the United States. And Trump himself, two days after his inauguration, called on Putin to end the war or face heavy taxes and sanctions.

According to Zelensky, he is impressed by Trumpʼs tactics for ending the war in Ukraine.

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