He noted that he would be glad to hold elections in Ukraine “as soon as possible,” but first it is necessary to end the war in the Russian Federation.
According to Zelensky, security guarantees and a ceasefire are needed to hold elections in Ukraine.
“If President Trump, I think he might [сделать это]will push [нелегитимного российского президента Владимира] Putin [к] ceasefire [на срок] two or three months, we will hold elections,” the President of Ukraine noted.
Context
On December 22, 2025, 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 the entire “peace plan” could be put to a referendum if the issue of territories could not be agreed upon in the negotiations. In particular, the head of the Ukrainian state considers it necessary to hold a referendum if the United States insists on creating a potential “free economic zone” in Donbass.
On December 28, Zelensky and Trump met in Florida. After her, the head of the White House said that Putin did not agree to a temporary truce to hold a referendum in Ukraine.
On January 7, 2026, Zelensky told reporters that there could be legislative changes on elections and referendums in February.
On February 6, Reuters wrote that Washington and Kyiv are agreeing to approve the terms of a peace settlement by March. 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. At the same time, the agency’s sources in the negotiation group doubted the achievability of this deadline.
On February 11, Zelensky did not confirm the Financial Times information about his intention to announce on February 24 the holding of elections and a referendum in Ukraine.
Trump said on February 13 that the aggressor country of the Russian Federation allegedly wants to conclude a deal, so Zelensky “must act”, otherwise he will “miss a great opportunity.”
