Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the“utterly stupid idea” he would announce a spring election and a referendum on a peace deal on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Reports citing Ukrainian and European officials claimed the president intended to announce the plans on 24 February, after the Trump administration issued a June deadline for a finalised peace agreement.
But, without ruling out an announcement at some point, Ukraine’s leader has pushed back on the date itself.
“February 24 is a special date,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Even if there were an intention or relevant steps toward bringing certain elections forward, I believe it would be an utterly stupid idea to use such a date to talk about politics.”
He described the date as “very serious” as it is used to mark “a large number of people who have defended our state and given their lives. Therefore, February 24 cannot be used to announce any elections – any elections at all,” he continued.
“This is not about individuals. No elections can be announced on February 24. I could never do such a thing.”
Zelensky said Kyiv would only move towards holding elections when “all the relevant security guarantees are in place”. He said he is ready for elections, and that Ukraine is only waiting for a ceasefire to be established before moving ahead with the plans.
But such a ceasefire still appears distant, as Russia continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw entirely from the Donbas region, meaning it would be giving up land it currently controls, a condition Kyiv has unequivocally rejected.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the EU’s foreign policy chief supported Zelensky’s position.
“If you have elections, it is always fighting inside between different factions, and when you have outside attacks, then you just cannot hold elections because your adversary is outside, and you need to concentrate all the efforts to counter that,” she said.
The European Union says it is working on its own “sustainable peace plan” that could help force Russia’s hand and bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
“Everybody around the table, including the Russians and the Americans, needs to understand that you need Europeans to agree (to have a peace deal),” Ms Kallas said, speaking to reporters in Brussels.
“And for that, we also have conditions. And we should put the conditions, not on Ukrainians, who have already been pressured a lot, but on the Russians.”
