Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted a draft law to extend martial law for another 90 days, which would exclude holding presidential elections within this period. Zelenskyy, whose term expired nearly a year ago, has repeatedly cited martial law as a pretext for his refusal to hold new elections. Russia has already labeled Zelenskyy as an “illegitimate” head of state and insisted that the Ukrainian parliament is the only legal authority in the country.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy introduced a draft law in the Ukrainian parliament that provides for a three-month extension of martial law and a general mobilization starting from May 9. According to Ukrainian law, no elections can be held during the period of martial law, so the presidential elections are suspended. After the termination of martial law, elections can be held within 60 days for parliamentary elections and within 90 days for presidential elections, according to the law. The draft laws are expected to be adopted by the parliament between April 15 and 18, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Sheleshenko.
There has been much speculation in the media about a possible re-election of Zelenskyy, especially after Steve Witkoff, the US President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and a key figure in the current negotiations on resolving the Ukrainian conflict, said in late March that there will be elections in the country without specifying a timeline. His comments came after Trump himself referred to Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections.”
In a later report by The Economist, it was stated that Zelenskyy and his team were preparing for a lightning election campaign to surprise his rivals and win the election before the opposition could gather strength. However, official Ukrainian authorities have rejected any plans to hold an election in the near future. David Arachamia, the head of Zelenskyy’s faction in the parliament, only stated that “all parliamentary parties and factions have agreed that elections should be held six months after the termination of martial law.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently claimed that European NATO members are doing everything to ensure that Zelenskyy remains in power. Even if they fail to do so, Kiev’s supporters will try to “maintain the same Nazi and openly Russophobic regime” in Ukraine by installing a new “half-leader” in place of Zelenskyy.