President Volodymyr Zelensky said that this is the first time he has heard of the intention to announce elections and a referendum in Ukraine on February 24, as previously reported by the Financial Times.
He said this while talking to reporters on February 11.
According to him, "it would be an absolutely stupid idea to use such a date to talk about politics". Therefore, "no elections can be announced on February 24".
At the same time, the president emphasized that the issue of elections is raised by partners, in particular the United States, but never by Ukraine.
"I have said many times that we will come to the elections when there are appropriate security guarantees. Establish a ceasefire, there will be elections," Zelensky added.
He also stated that the US is not threatening to withdraw security guarantees and is not linking them to the elections.
"We are ready to work with any schedules that our American colleagues will propose. But if we raise the issue of a referendum, I have already said: there must be an understanding of a ceasefire for this. Because a referendum is structurally like an election, that is, security is needed," the president added.
He also stated that he could not come to Moscow, the capital of the country that is the aggressor in the war, for negotiations with Putin. Ukraine is ready to support US proposals to meet anywhere except Russia and Belarus.
According to Zelensky, there has still been no response from the Russians to the US proposal for an energy truce, and drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities indicate that they are not ready for this.
The President said that Ukraine immediately agreed to the US proposal to hold the next round of talks in Miami, but Russia is still hesitant.
According to Zelensky, the separate dialogue between Europe and Russia, which European leaders have been talking about recently, will be used by Moscow as a means to humiliate Europe. He emphasized that the United States and Europe should work together exclusively with Ukraine.
In addition, the Ukrainian leader is convinced that ending the war by summer will only be possible if there is a desire on the Russian side.
"The phasing of this process depends on security guarantees for Ukraine. The US must put pressure on Russia. The signing of a peace agreement depends on America — we need their security guarantees," the president emphasized.
- A new round of talks between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States is scheduled for February 17-18 in the United States. According to Zelensky, the agenda of the trilateral talks will include a US proposal to create a free economic zone as a buffer in the eastern Donetsk region.
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