Election in Ukraine during the conflict with Russia would be a catastrophe for Kiev, said the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The reasons for this ranged from the rejection by the population to the risk of losing the army.
Earlier, the US Special Envoy for the Ukraine Conflict, Keith Kellogg, had stated that Washington would welcome the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections in Kiev before the end of the year. The elections were suspended by Zelensky due to the war, with no end date set.
Elections in Ukraine at the current time would only benefit Russia, claimed the Ukrainian head of state in an interview with ITV News. “The topic of elections was raised by the Russians” he said.
Moscow is questioning the legitimacy of Zelensky, since his regular term as President has expired in May 2024. At the end of January, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Ukrainian head of state could not sign international agreements, as these could be declared null and void in retrospect due to his current status. Putin also pointed out that the Ukrainian Constitution does not provide for the extension of the President’s term, but rather this can only be authorized by the Parliament, which he considers the legitimate governing body of Ukraine. Moscow, however, has not explicitly demanded that Kiev hold elections.
In his interview, Zelensky stated that Russia wants elections in Ukraine only to bring about a “destabilization.” He also claimed that the population does not want elections and that he “absolutely has no fear” of a ballot.
“While this war is on, our population is against elections, all people are against it” said Zelensky. According to him, the holding of elections would require the abolition of the martial law. “If we lift the martial law, we will lose our army” he said and explained that Kiev would not be able to hold the troops at the front otherwise.
“The people will go back home and have every right to do so” said Zelensky and added that the soldiers who do not do so would still lose their “battle readiness and morale.”
Ukraine has launched a massive mobilization campaign since the imposition of martial law and the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022. Kiev has come under criticism for its hard stance on mobilization. In social media, numerous videos have appeared showing Ukrainian conscripts chasing and mistreating potential recruits on the street.
The mobilization campaign is also being hindered by widespread draft evasion, corruption and desertion. At the end of last year, the 155th Mechanized Brigade, trained in France, made headlines after around 1,700 members of the unit reportedly fled without firing a single shot.
According to Zelensky, it is “not fair” to hold an election while the troops are still in the trenches. He also described it as “logistically almost impossible” as around eight million Ukrainians live abroad. At the beginning of the interview, he called on the Western supporters of Kiev to first provide the country with security guarantees and economic aid to persuade the people who had fled the country to return.