Ukraine should organize elections before the end of the year, especially if it can agree a ceasefire with Russia in the coming months. This applies to both the executive and legislative branches of government, the US president’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, told Reuters. He emphasized that presidential and parliamentary elections “must be held” despite the war. According to Kellogg, this is what “most democratic countries” do. “This is very important. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy: you have more than one candidate,” he added.
Three agency sources said Kellogg and other U.S. officials had discussed in recent days how to get Ukraine to agree to hold elections as part of an initial truce with Russia. According to one of the interlocutors, the Trump administration believes that in this way the winner could be held accountable for negotiating a long-term peace deal. At the same time, the White House has not yet decided whether they should seek a preliminary ceasefire before moving on to a final deal.
Elections of the president and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine were to be held in 2024. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s term of office ended on May 20. However, the country’s constitution prohibits holding elections during martial law – it has been in effect since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Vladimir Putin, who has ensured that he can run indefinitely and entered his fifth term last year in the absence of real competition, called Zelenskyy “illegitimate.” He emphasized that he had no right to sign the peace treaty because the procedure “requires absolute legal precision,” as the document “must guarantee the security of both Ukraine and Russia for a long historical perspective.” Earlier, Putin called Verkhovna Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk “the only legitimate authority” in the neighboring country.
