It was assumed that any peace agreement would be put to a referendum in Ukraine, where national elections would also be held at the same time.
The US delegation, which included US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the head of the White House's son-in-law Jared Kushner, said at meetings with Ukrainian representatives that it would be better to hold a referendum on the “peace plan” in the near future.
They say Trump will soon be focused on domestic issues as midterm congressional elections loom, leaving senior U.S. officials with less time and political capital to broker a peace deal on Ukraine.
However, this deadline will most likely be postponed, since there is no decision on the key territorial issue, Reuters emphasized.
Two of the agency's interlocutors said that US and Ukrainian officials also discussed the possibility of holding a referendum in May.
Reuters sources believe that the proposed US deadlines are unrealistic. Thus, the Central Election Commission stated in January that in the current conditions of war, it would take about six months to organize elections in Ukraine.
Organizing such elections will require changes in legislation, since their holding is prohibited during martial law in Ukraine. Moreover, it will be an expensive process.
The Ukrainian side insists on a ceasefire for the entire period of the election campaign, which Moscow does not agree with.
Kyiv’s position is that nothing can be agreed upon until security guarantees for Ukraine are provided by the United States and partners, a Reuters source said.
Context
In Art. 19 Law of Ukraine on the legal regime of martial law, it is noted that under martial law (this regime has been in effect in Ukraine since February 24, 2022), it is prohibited to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
Western partners spoke about the need to hold elections in Ukraine in 2024, but the head of the Ukrainian state Vladimir Zelensky explained that for this it is necessary to amend the Electoral Code and find means to organize elections. In addition, for them to be legitimate, observers need to be sent to the front lines.
On December 8, 2025, Trump said that in Ukraine it's time to hold presidential elections, since, in his opinion, the war is being used as a reason to postpone them. “As for elections, I’m always ready,” Zelensky responded on the same day. The president later explained why the Kremlin is committed to voting for Ukrainians in the Russian Federation and under occupation.
On December 22, the Rada began to prepare a bill on elections during the war, said Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. According to him, the new law will be one-time only.
Zelensky reported that all “peace plan” may be put to a referendum if the issue of territories cannot be agreed upon in negotiations. In particular, the President considers it necessary to hold a referendum if the United States insists on creating a potential “free economic zone” of Donbass.
On December 28, Zelensky and Trump met in Florida. After it, the head of the White House said that the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a temporary truce to hold a referendum in Ukraine.
At the end of January and beginning of February 2026, two rounds of negotiations between the delegations of the United States, Ukraine and the Russian Federation on resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war took place in the UAE. The media wrote that the issue of territories was not resolved at the negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
