“The first online meeting of the working group on the preparation of elections, referendums during martial law and the post-war period is scheduled at 13.00. Currently, about 60 people are already involved in the working group,” he said.
According to the first vice-speaker of the Rada, those who are not members of the working group have the opportunity to join the event.
Kornienko explained that the working group on election issues included representatives of each of the factions and parliamentary groups of the Verkhovna Rada (two people), key public organizations (about 10 people), executive authorities and law enforcement agencies.
“The level of representation is different. Mostly these are deputy heads of relevant departments. From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for example, there is the Secretary of State. The group has five members of the Central Election Commission, headed by the chairman. There are representatives of the secretariats and the Central Election Commission, and the Verkhovna Rada apparatus in order to fix the technical component,” he explained.
Kornienko said that his deputies at the head of the working group are Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Elena Kondratyuk, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Power Elena Shulyak and head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security Affairs Alexander Zavitnevich.
“The group is large, there are many deputies. I also admit that, perhaps, tomorrow representatives of factions and groups not only from the working group will participate,” predicted the vice-speaker of the Rada.
According to Kornienko, at the first meeting it is planned to discuss the organizational block of issues and hear representatives of the Central Election Commission.
“We will talk about how we will work further. I have an idea, in particular, to unite into thematic subgroups and hold more professional technical discussions in them, and then discuss and finalize everything in a large group. […] Members of the Central Election Commission […] will raise all the problems that exist both in the elections during martial law and in the post-war elections… And then we will simply exchange views on which of these problems and how we can solve them, where we need to move,” he said.
The first deputy speaker of the Rada predicts that the first meeting of the working group on elections in Ukraine will last about two hours and will be broadcast live on YouTube and social networks.
Context
The next presidential elections in Ukraine were scheduled to take place in the spring of 2024. However, in Art. 19 of the Law of Ukraine on the legal regime of martial law states that under martial law (this regime in Ukraine has been in effect since February 24, 2022), it is prohibited to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
Western partners talked about the need to hold elections in Ukraine in 2024, but Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky explained that for this it is necessary to make changes to the Electoral Code and find funds to organize elections. In addition, for them to be legitimate, observers need to be sent to the front lines.
On December 8, 2025, US President Donald Trump said that “the time has come” for presidential elections in Ukraine. He believes that in Ukraine the war is used as a reason not to hold elections. “As for elections, I am always ready,” Zelensky responded on the same day.
To hold elections in Ukraine, a ceasefire is needed, as well as security infrastructure and legislative changes, Zelensky explained on December 16.
On December 22, the Verkhovna Rada began preparing a bill on elections during the war, said Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. According to him, the new law will disposable.
