Zelensky: holding elections in wartime impossible for multiple reasons

However, conducting elections remains impossible due to legal restrictions, security risks, and challenges in ensuring a democratic process, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated at the “Ukraine. Year 2025” Forum, Ukrinform reports.

“The issue of elections was raised by the Russian Federation. There is plenty of information about this. The topic has also gained traction in the United States, and this did not come as a surprise to us. However, our partners have never raised this issue with us,” Zelensky noted.

The President believes that this new wave of election discussions is dangerous and could be used as leverage against Ukraine.

He emphasized that if elections were to be held now, security would be the main priority, as elections must be safe and democratic to be recognized as legitimate.

“How will people vote during the war? How will soldiers vote on the front lines if they cannot return home? I do not understand how this could be possible. Moreover, it contradicts Ukrainian law and the Constitution. But the most critical issue is security. How can the military vote? They simply cannot. How can fair elections be organized in wartime?” he said emotionally.

The President reminded that just last night, the Russian military launched 267 drones across Ukraine — clear evidence of Russia’s true intentions and a direct contradiction to its claims of wanting to end the war.

“What will happen with voting in Sumy and Kharkiv regions? What about Kupiansk, where people are being evacuated? How will voting be organized there? Can people abroad vote? How will we prepare the infrastructure for voting? Who will monitor elections on the front line? How many observers will actually come, and will they be willing to go to places like Pokrovsk?”

Zelensky stressed that these are critical questions because if a large part of the population is unable to vote, the election cannot be fair.

“Should we decide that voting will not take place within a certain distance from active combat zones? But people live there too! We cannot simply exclude certain regions from voting — that would be undemocratic and wrong,” he underscored.

Another major concern is organizing elections in temporarily occupied territories, as Russia may attempt to manipulate or interfere in the voting process.

Zelensky reminded that, by law, elections cannot be held under martial law. If martial law were lifted solely for elections, it would force many soldiers to leave the front lines to vote, which Russia could exploit militarily.

“The current situation and the messages we hear from various sources indicate that we must consider all risks. Unfortunately, some of our partners are spreading disinformation. I do not believe that President Trump himself thinks this way. I do not want to believe it, because our strategic partnership is important. That is why I call it disinformation,” he added.

As Ukrinform previously reported, U.S. President Donald Trump recently made new statements calling for elections in Ukraine.

This week, Trump also harshly criticized Zelensky, though many international leaders and U.S. politicians disagreed with his stance.