'Open to elections after peace is restored': Zelenskyy after meeting Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said elections can only be held in Kyiv after peace is restored, stressing that during war people cannot take part in free and democratic voting

Ukrainian  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday (IST) said that elections in the war-torn country can only be held once peace is restored.  Zelenskyy made the remarks during a joint press conference at the White House with US President Donald Trump.

 

“Yes of course. We need to work in Parliament because during war, you can't have elections but we need it to make it possible for people to have democratic open election,” Zelenskyy said in response to a reporter's question. "Under martial law, elections remain suspended."

 

He further said, “We need... a truce, yes, everywhere — the battlefield, the sky and the sea, to make it possible for people to do democratic open legal elections.”

 

In response, Trump joked about how a war could theoretically delay elections in the US. “So you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” he said.     

 

Elections in Ukraine

 

The last presidential elections in Ukraine were held on March 31, 2019, with a second round on April 21, 2019 because no candidate won more than half the votes in the first round. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a popular comedian and TV star, surprised many by winning with over 73 per cent of the vote against the previous president, Petro Poroshenko. Zelenskyy had never worked in government before and became famous for acting as a fictional president on TV. His campaign promised to fight corruption and bring change to Ukraine. He became president in May 2019

 

Russia-Ukraine conflict ‘easiest to end’, says Trump

 

Trump told reporters that both Kyiv and Moscow wanted peace. “I don’t know when this war will end but we have to end this war. Zelenskyy wants to end it, Putin wants to end it,” he said, adding he believed this was the “easiest” conflict to resolve.

 

Zelenskyy called for US and European involvement, saying, “We are ready for a trilateral meeting with Russia and US for peace.”